A banyan said to be over a thousand years old, seventeen metres tall, with aerial roots that have spread into a grove of their own. Small sight, ten minutes, genuinely impressive.
The Big Banyan Tree stands in the Moon Hill scenic area, about two kilometres from the arch, beside the Jinbao River. It is seventeen metres tall and its canopy, propped up by aerial roots that have reached the ground and become trunks, covers more than a hundred square metres. From a distance it looks like a small wood rather than one tree.
Local tradition puts it at over a thousand years old. The trunk is gnarled and hollowed, but it is still growing — new roots drop every year and thicken into supports. It featured in the 1963 film "Liu Sanjie", which is why Chinese visitors of a certain age know it and photograph it with more enthusiasm than foreign guests expect.
It takes ten minutes and it is on the same road as Moon Hill. Stop if you are passing; do not build a day around it. The surrounding village lanes and the river beside it are arguably the nicer part.
In the Moon Hill scenic area, 2 km from the Moon Hill arch on the Gaotian road, about 10 km south of Yangshuo town.
Any time of day; the canopy gives shade even at noon. Morning is quietest.
Fixed price per car, driver waits while you walk.
Tell us your dates and we will confirm the car, the driver and a fixed price within 2 hours.