Li River Cormorant Fishing

Li River fishermen have lived by these waters for a thousand years. water, The most common surname is Wong; it is said they came from Zhuji port, through the South China Sea, past Luoding to Guangxi Lingchuan, and settled by Mao Village in Guilin, some 35 generations ago.. Today they will say they are all from Mao Village in Daxu, Guilin. This video is from the river near Xingping, a few miles downstream. The outlook from this spot adorns the present 20RMB Chinese banknote.
Cormorant fishing is a traditional way of life here. At sunset fishermen gather here on gas-lit bamboo rafts with cormorants perched, The lights of the fishing raft scatter all over the river, and the karst scenery.
The cormorants are trained to dive into the river among the school of fish that live in the clear water. After catching a fish the bird returns to the boat where the fisherman removes the fish from the bird. The bird is trained to yield 7 fish, and gets the eighth as reward - this was an important observation in early studies of bird intelligence, that cormorants on Li River can count to eight (at least.)