Hailed as one of the most beautiful rivers on earth, the Lijiang River, where clean water flows between the scenic karst mountains, winds through four counties in the city of Guilin in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Lijiang River has not only been mentioned in Chinese textbooks but also appears on the back of China's 20-yuan banknote.

As today marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the impressive environmental revitalization in Guangxi also adds to the joy of celebration.

The local government has made all-out efforts to reduce pollution and restore the beauty of the Lijiang River. Vital to local people's lives, aquatic life and river recovery has reached significant improvement in this region.

The "toilet revolution" launched by local governments in recent years has renovated and upgraded household toilets for all residents living by the river. Now the waste is processed in water treatment facilities before being drained into the river.

To protect the bamboo trees growing along the riverbanks, the government has compensated residents who used to cut down bamboo to make room to grow oranges.

All quarries in the area have been closed, and local authorities have stepped up the crackdown on illegal sand mining and cage culture in some sections of the river.

The government also launched a campaign in 2016, with a total investment of 314 million yuan, to relocate residents out of the four river islands to restore their damaged environment.

So far, all the residents on the Fulongzhou Island have been relocated to the city proper of Guilin, with restaurants closed and illegal buildings torn down. The island has been transformed into a park.

Besides compensation, the local government has provided the residents with free training programs to help them find jobs in the city.

Thanks to anti-pollution efforts, today's Lijiang River has regained its original glamour, with water grass flowing in limpid water and egrets flying overhead. Residents now wash vegetables by the river, and children can swim in it.

The river's water quality has met the national standard for the past three years, according to local statistics.

Huang Qiaosong, 46, has been steering boats on the Lijiang River for more than 20 years. "We have replaced all old diesel-powered boats with low-emission cruisers, and we stopped cooking in them," Huang explains.