At the southern end of Guilin where the Li River and the Taohua River converge is one of Guilin's best-promoted sights, Elephant Trunk Hill. Unlike other misshapen lumps of rock with tenuous names extracted from Chinese myth, this indeed does resemble a proboscidean mammal dipping its snout into the Li River. Visit Water Moon Cave (水月洞, Shuǐyuè Dòng) and head up the peak walk to Puxian Pagoda (普贤塔, Pǔxián Tǎ) for views of the park and the picturesque Li River.
Note there are two entrance gates: one at Xiangshan Park for the climb up Elephant Trunk Hill and its Water Moon Cave; and another that sits across the river mouth that offers various vantage points of the elephant's 'trunk'. Both are connected by a walkway, and each is worth seeing for their differing perspectives.
Cormorant fishing in the Li River is a tourist drawcard, though there is some question about the welfare of the birds and the ethicality of this ancient custom. This custom has been practised in China for more than a millennium, and though it was formerly a successful industry, its main use today is to entertain tourists. It involves the fisherman tying a snare near the base of the bird's throat so that the bird can swallow smaller fish, but not larger ones. When a cormorant has caught a large fish, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and the cormorant spits the fish out.
