The resilient Guilin has withstood the ravages of war and fire to become one of China's most popular tourist destinations, write Li Yang and Huo Yan.

There are numerous ways to take in the beauty of Guilin, a world-acclaimed tourist destination famed for its karst landscape. One of the best ways is climbing up to the top of Duxiu Hill.

The 66-meter-high peak stands in the center of a stretch of plain encircled by two rivers, four lakes and ranges of bamboo-shoot-shaped hill forests in the distance.