The palace of a Ming dynasty prince, built around a 150-metre limestone peak in the middle of the city — and the rock where the phrase "Guilin's scenery tops the world" was first carved.
The Jingjiang Mansion takes its name from the Jingjiang prince, a nephew of the first Ming emperor, who was given Guilin to govern. The palace covers 6,100 square metres in the very centre of the city, built in a ring around Solitary Beauty Peak — a 150-metre tower of limestone that the palace was designed to enclose.
The peak rises straight out of the palace courtyard, and there are 306 steps to the top with a view over the whole of downtown Guilin. It has been climbed for centuries; the inscriptions on the way up include some of the most quoted lines about Guilin, among them the earliest version of "Guilin's landscape tops those elsewhere in the world", carved into the rock face.
The buildings are restored rather than original — the complex has been destroyed and rebuilt several times — but the layout, the walls and the peak are genuine, and it is now part of Guangxi Normal University. A visit combines the palace rooms, the examination hall where imperial candidates sat, and the climb.
Dead centre of downtown Guilin, on Wangcheng — a ten-minute walk from most central hotels.
Clear mornings for the summit view. The palace rooms are shaded and fine in any weather.
Fixed price per car, driver waits while you walk.
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