What Guilin Looks Like Through a Local Fisherman's Eyes
Chen Wei, 58, has fished the Li River since he was a teenager. He lives in Xingping ancient town with his wife and two grown children, keeps four cormorant birds, and hasn't taken a single day off from the river in 23 years. We talked over tea at his riverside home as the morning mist lifted off the karst peaks.
You've lived by the Li River your entire life. Do you still notice how beautiful it is?
Honestly? Yes. But not the way tourists do. Tourists see the mountains and the reflections and they take out their cameras. I see the water level. I see the current speed. I see whether the fish are near the surface or down deep. And then sometimes, maybe once a week, the mist does something unusual — sits in a particular valley or catches the light in a way I haven't seen before — and I stop and watch it. After 40 years, that still happens.
What do tourists get most wrong about Guilin?
They think the Li River cruise IS the experience. They get on the big boat at 9AM, they sit on the deck for four hours, they take photos, they arrive in Yangshuo, and they think they've seen the Li River. They haven't. They've seen the surface of the Li River from a moving boat full of 200 people.
The river at 5:30AM, when the mist is low and the cormorants are working and the only sound is the water — that's a completely different place. The tourists who stay overnight in Xingping and wake up early, they understand. The cruise people don't.
Tell me about the cormorant fishing. Is it still real?
It's complicated. My grandfather used cormorants to catch fish to sell at the market. My father did the same. I did it too, when I was young. The birds dive, catch fish, and can't swallow them because of a ring around their throats. They bring the fish back to the boat. It's an ancient technique.
Now? I still fish with my birds, but I also fish for tourists. Photographers pay 100-200 CNY to come on the boat at sunrise and take pictures of me working with the cormorants. I don't love that it's become a performance. But the fishing income alone doesn't support a family anymore — not with the river regulations and the decreased fish stocks. The photography income is real money.
The birds are real. The technique is real. The motivation has changed. That's honest.
What's your favorite spot on the Li River?
There's a bend about 3km upstream from Xingping where a small tributary enters from the east. No boats go there because it's too shallow for the tourist boats. The water is clearer than the main river, and in the early morning the mist fills the side canyon. I park my raft there sometimes and just sit.
But I'm not telling you exactly where. Some things should stay hard to find.
Where do you eat in Xingping?
The beer fish restaurants on the main street are okay but overpriced. My wife makes better beer fish. For visitors, I tell them to go to the small place at the end of the old town street — no English sign, just a woman and her husband cooking in the front room. Their river fish is the freshest because her husband catches it that morning. About 50-60 CNY for a whole fish.
For breakfast, the rice noodle shop next to the old well. 8 CNY. It's been there since I was a boy.
What about Yangshuo?
Yangshuo has changed. When I was young, it was a small farming town. Now West Street has bars and international restaurants and tourists buying t-shirts. I don't go to West Street.
But the countryside around Yangshuo is still beautiful. The Yulong River area, the villages near Moon Hill — cycling through there feels like the old Guilin. The rice paddies, the water buffalo, the stone bridges. If I were a tourist, I'd spend one night in Yangshuo town and three days in the countryside.
What should tourists absolutely not do?
Don't swim in the Li River near the tourist boat routes. The boats create currents and the water is deeper than it looks. Stick to the marked swimming areas near Yangshuo if you want to get in the water.
Don't take the unofficial bamboo rafts. I know people who operate them, and some are fine, but some are not. The official ones have safety equipment and trained operators.
Don't go to the Longji Rice Terraces on a weekend in October. The paths are narrow and the terraces are crowded enough that you can't enjoy them. Go on a Tuesday or Wednesday.
And don't photograph people in the villages without asking. Especially the elderly. My mother hated having her photo taken by strangers. A nod and a gesture is enough to ask permission.
Is there anything about Guilin that tourists don't know but should?
The city of Guilin itself has two lakes — Shan Lake and Rong Lake — connected by a canal. At night, the Sun and Moon Pagodas are illuminated and you can walk the lakeside path for free. Almost no tourists do this because it's not on the standard itinerary. It takes 30 minutes and it's peaceful.
Also, the caves. Reed Flute Cave gets all the attention because it's close to the city and has the LED lights. But Silver Cave (Yinzi Yan), near Yangshuo, is bigger, less crowded, and the formations are more impressive. 65 CNY entry.
What do you think when you see the 20 CNY banknote?
(laughs) I think it's funny that the most famous image of my home is printed on money. The view on the banknote is from near Xingping — you can see it from Xianggong Hill. Every tourist wants that exact photo.
But the Li River has thousands of beautiful views. That one is just the one someone chose. It's not even my favorite. My favorite is the view from my boat at 6AM when no one else is on the water. That view isn't on any banknote. But it's the one I'd print if I could.
Chen Wei can be found at the Xingping waterfront most mornings before 7AM. He doesn't have a website or a phone number posted anywhere. Ask at any guesthouse in Xingping for "the fisherman with four cormorants" and someone will point you in the right direction.
