Guilin is one of China's most picturesque cities, situated in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China on the west bank of the Lijiang River (also called the Li River). Its name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. Its scenery is reputed by many Chinese to be the "finest under heaven", or directly from Chinese: "the mountains and rivers in Guilin are the number one under the heaven." [China.org.cn]