Huashan Cliff Painting

Huashan Cliff Painting is located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and covers several counties including Ningming, Longzhou, Congzuo, Fusui, etc.

The painting is engraved on a lime cliff along the riverbanks of the Longjiang and Mingjiang rivers. Altogether there are 60 paintings depicting 1,770 human figures engraved by the ancient Zhuang people. The largest painting is 44 meters wide and 170 meters long with bright umber colors and uninhibited lines. Altogether there are 1,300 human figures; the tallest (which is rare for its large scale), reaches three meters, and the smallest, 30 cm. Some of the figures resemble warriors, while others are like chiefs and generals, brandishing swords and riding steeds; some are dancing. There are also bronze drums, dogs and horses among them. The themes are of great value to the study of ancient local cultures.

A long time ago, a farmer in Ningming County, accidentally found some small human figure designs on the steep cliffs by the Zuojiang River. The figures were very vivid, with some seemingly running and some dancing. The farmer was astonished by his discovery and immediately ran away. It turned out to be a monumental work of arts.

Since then, the local of Zhuang minority people called the painted cliff "Pay Laiz", which means "Colorful Rocks" in Chinese. In fact, what was discovered in Guangxi has gone far beyond the imagination of the people. There were more than 70 places of rock paintings, 5 in Ningming County, 21 in Longzhou County, 1 in Daxin County, 28 in Congzuo City and 18 in Fusui County, extending for more than 200 kilometers, covering more than 60 mountains. Up till today, more than 4,000 pictures have been discovered. As the rock painting groups are very much the same in shapes, styles and strokes, they are called "Huashan Cliff Paintings" by researchers.

Of these discoveries, the rock painting in Ningming County is the largest in scale and the most numerous in images and the most magnificent in sight.

The shocking rock paintings are on the rock of cliffs of the mountain on the eastern bank of Mingjiang, a tributary of Zuojiang River. The cliff wall seemingly looks down on the river from about more than 120 meters from the foot of the mountain, with the lowest part being about 10 meters and about 172-210 meters in width for an area of more than 8000 square meters. There are 111 groups of paintings, with 1,900 images, including figures, animals, bronze drums, knives, swords, bells, boats and roads.

Crossing the river, there is an open space, the best place to view the rock paintings.

How to get there :

Nanning to Ningming
By Train: Take the train No.5517 (Nanning to Pingxiang, departing from Nanning at 7:58 am) and get off at the Ningming station after about a three hours' journey. (The same train will return to Nanning on the same day and depart from the Ningming station at 4:10 pm).

By Bus: Hourly buses from Nanning to Pingxiang are available from 8:00 to 18:00 every day at the Nanning Bus Station.

Ningming to Huashan
By Ship: Take the ships run by travel companies (RMB 35) or private boats (RMB 80) at the Tuolongqiao Pier (200 meters away from the railway station).