The Yulong River () is a small tributary of the larger

Li River The Li River or Li Jiang () is the name for the upper reaches of the Gui River in northwestern Guangxi, China. It is part of the Xijiang River system in the Pearl River Basin. The river flows from Xing'an County to Pingle County, where the ka ...

in Southeastern

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

Zhuang Autonomous Region that runs through the major city of

Guilin Guilin ( Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...

Yangshuo Yangshuo County () is a county under the jurisdiction of Guilin City, in the northeast of Guangxi, China. Its seat is located in Yangshuo Town. Surrounded by karst peaks and bordered on one side by the Li River it is easily accessible by bus or by ...

. The Yulong starts in Northern Yangshuo County near Litang and runs for over through small villages of the Yulong River Valley, including Litang, Chaolong, Yima and Gaotian town, before emptying into the Li around the town of Ping Le. The Yulong is a shallow river of around maximum depth and an average of across. As it is not located near any industrial areas, it is clean enough for swimming, though some brownish surface foam is visible in eddys, probably the result of

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...

runoff from local villages. Unlike the busy Li River, it has no motorized boat traffic and relies completely on bamboo rafts to ferry passengers downriver. This has become a popular tourist activity, with passengers beginning their journey at the Yulong Bridge, a 400-year-old stone bridge. As the local government has improved local roads through the Yulong River Valley, biking has also become a popular tourist activity, as there are many quaint villages along the river, some offering bed and breakfast accommodation. The Yulong is prone to sudden flooding, which is one of the reasons why there are not more places to stay close by. Local people have built breakwaters (weirs) every kilometer or so to allow their animals to cross the river, though many have fallen into disrepair. During the dry season (November–March), it is possible for people to walk across some of these weirs; otherwise it is necessary to hire local people to ferry passengers across for about RMB 10 per person. The Yulong River Valley is very fertile, and its low-lying terrain is excellent for rice fields. In recent years, farmers have planted more cash crops such as pomelos, tangerines and mandarin oranges, which bring in more income than rice. The valley is still agricultural, with few services or businesses outside of the small villages. The valley is accessible from the main Yangshuo highway through the village of Yi Ma, north at the Yulong Bridge and south at the Gong Nong Bridge. The river is approximately south of

town proper. File:View from Yulong Bridge near Baisha, Yangshuo, China.jpg, Yulong near Baisha File:Yulong River Valley.JPG, Yulong River Valley (from a hot air balloon). File:Yulong River Bamboo Rafting.jpg, Yulong River Bamboo Rafting

References

{{coord, 24.7725, N, 110.5070, E, source:wikidata, display=title Rivers of Guangxi Tributaries of the Pearl River (China)