Magnificent Guilin — Fantastic Views at the Li River and the Cormorant

The fishermen of Xingping had engaged in the cormorant in their fishing practices for centuries. This very special practice has drawn many interested tourists and I was keen to see it when I went to Xingping.

There are two options in terms of boat rides on the Li River in Xingping. For the more “traditional,” or “authentic” experience, you could hire a bamboo raft (I highly doubt that they are still made of bamboo now, I saw rubber-made rafts mostly). This would cost RMB 120 yuan and it does not take you to the upstream, where you would see the Yellow Cloth Shoal. Instead, this route takes you downstream.

I joined the boat tour at 3pm. This standard boat tour cost RMB 85 yuan, and took the group upstream to experience the Li River in this part of Guilin. The only regret is that this day and the following day (when I do my sunrise tour at Xianggong Shan) would be way overcast.

As with the Li River boat tour at Yangshuo, we were seated in the boat, offered local snacks and then after a bit of sailing we could go up to the deck to view the scenery. The first point of interest was a show of the cormorant by the local fisherman, what I looked forward to the most on this trip and unique to Xingping.

The Cormorants and their Fishing Past

Cormorant fishing had been a technique engaged by the fishermen of China and Japan for thousands of years. In China, there were records of this fishing technique as early as the Sui dynasty in 636 BC.

According to the Wikipedia, this following is how the fishermen controlled the cormorant when they fish:

To control the birds, the fishermen tie a loose snare near the base of the bird’s throat. The snare does not stop the bird from swallowing small fish, but prevents the bird from swallowing larger fish, which are held temporarily in their gullet. When a cormorant has caught a fish in its throat, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has it regurgitate the fish. (Wikipedia on Cormorant Fishing)

It takes no imagination to see that this type of traditional fishing technique pales in comparison to modern techniques in terms of efficiency. As such, cormorant fishing only serves the purpose of tourism these days. I had not confirmed this on the boat tour, but it did look to me that the fisherman we saw on board the boat was merely using his cormorant as a prop for tourists to take photographs with.

The Cormorant – A Show for the Tourists

The fisherman rowed on his bamboo raft and boarded our tourist boat. He brought a large cormorant with him, his prized possession for livelihood. The rule of payment goes like this: there is no fee for taking photographs of the fisherman and the bird. But if you take a photograph with the fisherman and the cormorant, then there is a charge of RMB 5 yuan.

There was an orderly way to proceed and each row of the tourists would take turns to admire the fishman and his handy companion. I was seated in the front row and so I was very fortunate that I could see the fisherman rowing his bamboo raft and boarding the boat.

The bird was large with a very sharp and pointed beak. To prevent it from pecking tourists, the fisherman has fixed a little plastic tube stopper on his beak. No, there was no actual demonstration of the fishing technique on this tour boat. However, I do believe that is an option if you join a tour specifically to see the actual fishing with the cormorant, in an early sunrise tour of the river. This option is not cheap, and I had not looked into that myself.

The children were particularly intrigued by the big bird and we took some time for everybody to have a chance for photo taking. The fisherman left the boat and we went on to the next segment of the boat tour, the Yellow Cloth Shoal is coming up.

Sources

The Wikipedia on Cormorant Fishing.