A large-scale retooling construction project is underway in Guilin to make this world-renowned tourist city more beautiful.

A Chinese proverb goes: "Mountains and waters in Guilin are foremost among the traveling destinations in the world." Although Guilin has been attracting myriads of tourists each year and earned a hefty sum of forex out of tourism, the city is falling behind modern cities in the world from the perspective of the high-level traveling industry. In the city proper, roads are not wide enough, there are no big waterways in the city, hills are hidden from view by clusters of dilapidated houses, streetlight is dim and the traffic is jammed. All this is not in tandem with the ecstatic scenery of Guilin and fails to come to the standards of a modern tourist city. Most important, the inadequate construction and inferior management of the city has curbed its social, economic and tourist development. No wonder, some tourists portray Gulin as "a pretty young lady in ragged clothing".

To improve this undesirable situation, the Guilin municipal government made a decision in 1998 to build Guilin into a modern international tourist city.

In several months of last year, 5 old bridges were torn down and about 10 thousand variegated architectural structures which blotted out hills and rivers were dismantled. And one year's effort has yielded results. A central square has been built integrating rest-taking, meeting, commercial and recreational functions. Xiang Square is under construction. Based on its original scenery and rich historical and cultural relics, the square, when completed, will have a man-made waterfall and dotted streamlets with idyllic conception. Reconstruction of a number of streets has been completed and several small exquisite parks have been built. The knocking down of some buildings has enabled several hills to show their faces. A 500-year-old tower on the bank of the Peach River on the South Ring Road, which even the Gulin residents have formerly rarely known, has reappeared showing its surpassing beauty after houses around it were pulled down. The Wenchang Bridge has been reconstructed in downtown Guilin and the construction of the Liberation Bridge has been commenced. The Zhongshan Road under construction will become a busy commercial area. Rivers around the city are being dredged and will link to rivers and lakes and channel the tourist boats to the city proper.

Years later, Guilin, a new park city, with splendid hill and water scenery, will catch the eyes of the world's people.