Huashan, Ningming

Overview

About

The Huashan scenic area lies on the Zuo River in Ningming County, south-west Guangxi, with primeval forest, cliff paintings and ethnic villages.

The forest was early made the Longrui nature reserve; it has more than ten rare trees including the golden camellia, “queen of the tea family”, over 400 white-headed langurs under first-class national protection, and François’ langurs, pied hornbills, macaques, civets, musk deer, serow and junglefowl.

Along more than 200 km of sheer cliffs on the winding Zuo River is a vast group of rock paintings in 79 sites, 178 places and 287 groups. The Huashan painting at Ningming is the largest, with the most figures, the densest and the tallest, the masterpiece of the group: on a cliff 345 m above sea level and 250 m above the Ming River, the painted surface is about 150 m wide and 95 m high with some 1,800 figures, mostly people, with animals and objects, the human figures in varied poses built from the character 大, bodies roughly drawn without faces, ringed by single or double circles for sun and moon. They are dated from the Spring and Autumn period to the Later Han, 1,800 to 2,500 years ago.

The ethnic village is made up of century-old timber houses of a Zhuang chieftain, a Dong king, a Miao king and a Yao village head, of both historical and scenic value.

It is in the second batch of national parks of China (national scenic areas) named by the State Council in 1988.

Travel tips

Getting there: the nearest cities are Nanning and Chongzuo. The Huashan rock art is on the Ming River in Ningming county; take a train or bus from Nanning to Ningming and then a local vehicle to the site.

Seeing the paintings: the cliff paintings are on the east bank of the Ming River and are viewed from a boat, since the whole face is best seen from the water.

Other sites: more painted cliffs lie along the Zuo River around Ningming, Chongzuo and Longzhou; the distances are long, so most visitors see only one or two.

Forest and wildlife: the Longrui reserve has primary forest, but the animals keep to the dense woods and are rarely seen by ordinary visitors.

Time: half a day to a day for the Huashan paintings alone; two or three days with the surrounding sights.

Season: spring and autumn are more comfortable; summer is hot and wet, and the river level can affect the boats.

Where to stay: Ningming town has lodging; Chongzuo and Nanning are alternatives.

Caution: do not climb or touch the cliffs. Wear a life jacket on the boat and take sun protection.

Photo credits: Huashan rock art, Zuojiang: xiquinhosilva (CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)

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