In today's photo from the Li River near Guilin in china our boat is approaching a curve to the left.
Ahead of us there's a farming community on the flood plain below the karst limestone outcrops. The river disappears to the left but in reality it winds back to the right and passes below the exposed rock cliffs in the distance beyond the farming community.
If I remember my river geography correctly, on the inside of the curve the water passes more slowly so silt is deposited while on the outside of the curve the water travels more quickly and the silt in suspension scours the outside bank and so, over time, the bends become more pronounced.
The river now is dammed in several locations and the flow of water is controlled. It's not hard to imagine the pre-dam days and major floods just swamping the site where this community now sits.
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