The landscape of Guilin is the finest under heaven.
Tips
culture
桂 is associated with the moon in Chinese poetry — legend holds that a cassia tree (桂树) grows on the moon. 桂 also abbreviates 广西 (Guangxi), so 桂林 means 'cassia grove'.
Left tree radical — a pictograph of a tree with roots and branches. 桂 names the osmanthus and cassia trees, prized for their fragrance and cinnamon-like bark, so the tree tag is literal. Same indexing radical as 松 pine, 柳 willow, 桃 peach, 梅 plum.
Right side 圭 supplies the sound — guī → guì with tone shift. 圭 originally named a tapered jade tablet held by nobles at court, and the same phonetic appears in 桂's siblings 挂 to hang, 蛙 frog, 街 street, 闺 boudoir.
