"The mountains and rivers of Guilin border the world, the mountains and rivers of Yangshuo border Guilin."
The Li River, the "mother river" of Guilin, is also one of the most important waterways in Lingnan, China. Since the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of an important route, taking advantage of the Li River to connect North and South.
Coming to the Ly River, Guilin, China, visitors can not only admire the quiet, peaceful beauty of the charming river area but also witness the unique art of fishing with cormorants of the local people here.
Come to Ly Giang to see the art of catching fish with birds
On the Li River, 83 km long, stretching from Guilin City to Yangshuo County, Guangxi Province. The Li River is like a giant green silk winding through hundreds of small and large mountains connecting each other. The scenery on both sides of the river is as beautiful as a painting and is one of the tourist attractions not to be missed when coming to Guilin.
The Ly River is gentle, kind, and imbued with the beauty of "beautiful mountains and rivers".
The picturesque landscape here makes anyone "touched" by its beauty. And on the Ly Giang River, visitors will see the image of fishermen catching fish on the river with cormorants. It is a strange traditional profession that has been preserved for over 1300 years.
As the Li River became a popular tourist destination, the image of fishermen fishing with cormorants also became a unique feature of Guilin. Abandoning modern fishing nets and rods, fishermen here inherited the ancient method of their ancestors for centuries, with cormorants as their "companions". Cormorants, professional fish-eating seabirds, became effective allies of the people in hunting fish thanks to their ability to dive deep and catch prey accurately.
People here make a living by fishing.
Cormorants mainly eat fish. They can dive deep and hunt very quickly. Their long and strong beaks help them catch their prey accurately. Cormorants can catch fish from the age of 3 months and their ability to catch fish is most developed when they are 3 years old. The average lifespan of a raised cormorant is more than ten years, their eyes will gradually become dim, their movements will slow down, and they will not be able to catch fish. At this time, fishermen will continue to raise them until they die.
Cormorants are trustworthy companions of humans.
Training and using cormorants for “hunting” requires patience and special skills from the people. Trainers must create a close relationship with the birds, so that they trust and obey commands. Cormorants are fitted with a small trap near their throats, preventing them from swallowing large fish. These fish will be retained and harvested by the people.
Dusk fell, the moon lit up a vast darkness. The water surface was calm, the bamboo rafts of fishermen simultaneously hung lanterns out on the river. The oil lamps were like lost stars in the mortal world, the fishermen put on raincoats, used bamboo poles to push the rafts out to the middle of the river, a "Ly Giang Ngu Hoa" party officially began.
Fishing with cormorants begins by bringing the birds to an area with a lot of fish. When cormorants see a lot of fish near the water surface, they will be stimulated by instinct to catch more fish. However, after eating their fill, cormorants will not catch fish anymore. Therefore, to make cormorants catch fish continuously, fishermen will first use straw to make a rope around the birds' necks, but still ensure that they can breathe normally. This is done to prevent the cormorants from swallowing the fish completely, but getting it stuck in their necks.
It is not easy to train a cormorant to master hunting skills.
Cormorants swam through the water like arrows, using their excellent diving ability to catch the big fish hiding at the bottom. The cormorants caught the fish in their mouths and then habitually returned to the bamboo rafts. The fishermen used bamboo poles to help the cormorants stand on the rafts, then took the fish out of the birds' mouths. The fish and man coordinated skillfully, and in no time the basket was full of fish.
Cormorant fishing technique is a unique traditional fishing method, bearing the cultural mark of the people of Lijiang.
After the night of fishing, the fishermen picked out a few small fish to reward the cormorants, then rowed back on the raft. The Li River returned to a quiet state, as if no one had ever visited. The earliest method of fishing invented by the Chinese did not use fishing rods or nets, but instead used birds to dive in the water to catch fish. Only in this way could ancient fishermen feed their entire families.
Fishermen and cormorants - the harmony of man and nature creates the cultural heritage of Lijiang region
The ancient profession of fishing with cormorants is associated with the phrase “Li Jiang fish fire”. The word “fish” refers to the skillful fishing activity of cormorants. Surely many people wonder why the word “water” is not used to catch fish in the river, but “fire” is used instead. However, everything has its own meaning.
This technique has been around for generations and has become a major source of income for many local families.
The word “fire” in “Li Jiang fish fire” is the flickering light from an oil lamp hanging on a floating bamboo raft. The light from the lamp attracts photophilic fish at night. When they see the light, the fish will swim towards the bamboo raft. At this time, the fishermen will use a long stick to hit the water surface, scaring the fish into swimming around and stirring up an area of water.
The livelihood of fishermen here
The water surface is calm, the bamboo rafts of fishermen simultaneously hang lights on the river.
A "Ly Giang fish fire" party officially begins on the river
The locals here call the cormorant “duong menh tu”, meaning “giving yourself a child to nurture life”. The fishermen of the past loved their cormorants very much, raising them like their own children. When the drought season or the weather was unfavorable, the fishermen still used the usual fishing methods and went to the market to buy fish to feed the cormorants.
“Lijiang Fish Fire” has been through thousands of years of history, it is the evolutionary relationship for survival between humans and animals. This is also the noble harmony between humans and nature according to the concept of ancient Chinese people.
