Guilin

 

or Kweilin (both: gwā-lĭn') , city (1994 est. pop. 707,200), N Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, S China, on the Li River. It is a transportation center, with connections by rail, river, and road. Paper products, textiles, chemicals, and agricultural equipment are manufactured in the city, and minerals such as tin and tungsten are found nearby. Guilin is known for its beautiful karst scenery, often pictured by Chinese landscape painters. Many famous Buddhist monasteries are in the area. A U.S. air force base was there during World War II. Guilin was once capital of Guangxi prov. The name sometimes appears as Kuei-lin.

Guilin
Location of Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Chinese name
Chinese:	桂林
Transliterations Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Guìlín - Wade-Giles: Kuei-lin - Postal Map: Kweilin Yue (Cantonese) - Jyutping: gwai3 lam4
Zhuang name
Zhuang:	Gveilinz

Guilin is a city in China, situated in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the west bank of the Lijiang River. Its name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. The city has long been renowned for its unique scenery.

Maps

Location of Guangxi in China

Location of Guilin in Guangxi

The administrative divisions within Guilin

History

In 314 BC, a small settlement was established along the banks of the Li River.

In 111 BC, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Shi An County was established, which could be regarded as the beginning of the city.

In 507 AD, the town was renamed Guizhou.

Guilin prospered in the Tang and Song dynasties but remained a county. The city was also a nexus between the central government and the southwest border, and it was where regular armies were placed to guard that border. Canals were built through the city so that food supplies could be directly transported from the food-productive Yangtze plain to the farthest southwestern point of the empire.

In 1921, Guilin became one of the headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

In 1940, the city acquired its present name. In 1981, this ancient city was listed by the State Council as one of the four cities (the other three being Beijing, Hangzhou and Suzhou) where the protection of historical and cultural heritage, as well as natural scenery, should be treated as a priority project.

Physical setting

• Area: 27,809 km²
• Subtropical region
• Typical karst formation
• Mountains: Diecai Hill (叠彩山), Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山), Seven-Star Cave (七星岩), Wave-Subduing Hill (伏波山), Lipu Mountains and Yaoshan Mountains
• Rivers: Lijiang

Administrative divisions

Guilin administers 17 county-level divisions:

• Five city districts: Xiufeng Qu (秀峰区), Xiangshan Qu (象山区), Diecai Qu (叠彩区), Qixing Qu (七星区), Yanshan Qu (雁山区).
• Ten counties: Lingui County (临桂), Yangshuo County (阳朔), Lingchuan County (灵川), Xing'an County (兴安), Quanzhou County (全州), Yongfu County (永福), Ziyuan County (资源), Guanyang County (灌阳), Pingle County (平乐), Lipu County (荔浦).
• Two autonomous counties: Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County (恭城瑶族自治县), Longsheng Autonomous County (龙胜各族自治县).

People

• Population: 1.34 million
• Urban population: 600,000
• Ethnic groups: Zhuang, Yao, Hui, Miao, Han and Dong

Climate

• Damp monsoon climate
• Warm and rainy
• Plenty of sunshine and clear division of the four seasons
• Warm winters
• Average temperature: 19°C annually

Economy

• The GDP per capita was ¥15775 (ca. US$1910) in 2003, ranked no. 125 among 659 Chinese cities.
• Local industry: pharmaceutical goods, tires, machinery, fertilizer, silk, perfume, wine, tea, cinnamon, herbal medicine
• Local agricultural products: Shatian Pomelo, summer orange, fructus momordicae, ginkgo, moon persimmon, Lipu Tara, Sanhua Alcohol, pepper sauce, fermented bean curd, Guilin Rice Noodle, water chestnut, grain, fish and dried bean milk cream in tight rolls

Colleges and universities

Public

• Guangxi Normal University （广西师范大学）
• Guilin Medical College (桂林医学院)
• Guilin Institute of Technology (桂林工学院)
• Guilin University of Electronic Technology (桂林电子科技大学)

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

Attractions

The Jingjiang Princes City is a royal complex dating from the Ming Dynasty that lies near the center of modern Guilin.

Other scenic spots around Guilin include:

• Seven Star Park
• Seven-Star Cave and Ludi (Reed-Flute) Cave
• Camel Mountain and Elephant Trunk Hill
• Piled Festoon Hill
• Crescent Hill
• Fubo Hill
• Nanxi Hill
• Erlang Gorge
• Huangbu (Yellow Cloth) Beach
• Moon Hill

Cuisine

Guilin cuisine is known for its snacks and the use of spices, especially chili. The famous Guilin chili sauce, Guìlín làjiāojiàng (|桂林辣椒酱), used widely in cooking by locals,[1] is made of fresh chili, garlic, and fermented soybeans, and is considered one of the city's Three Treasures (桂林三]]宝). The other two of the Three Treasures are Guilin Sanhua Jiu (桂林三花酒), a variety of rice baijiu, or liquor distilled from rice; and Guilin pickled tofu (桂林豆腐乳).

Guilin rice noodles (桂林米粉; pinyin: Guìlín mǐfěn) have been the local breakfast staple since the Qin dynasty and are renowned for their delicate taste. Legend has it that when Qin troops suffering from diarrhea entered this region, a cook created the Guilin rice noodles for the army because they had trouble eating the local food. Specifically, the local specialty is noodles with horse meat, but this dish can also be ordered without the horse meat. Zongzi ([粽子; pinyin: zòngzi), a dumpling made from glutinous rice and mung bean paste wrapped in a bamboo or banana leaf) [2] is another popular delicacy in Guilin.

Trivia

• Many scenes from The Painted Veil (2006 film), adapted from the 1925 W. Somerset Maugham novel The Painted Veil were filmed in Guilin and the surrounding area.
• The scenery from the twenty Yuan bill is that of the Li River.
• Guilin is the final area of the video game Shenmue II and the home of Shenhua.
• Guilin was mentioned in the novel The Joy Luck Club as the original home of Suyuan Woo, the mother of the primary narrator of the story, Jing-mei Woo.

Quotes

"I often sent pictures of the hills of Guilin which I painted to friends back home, but few believed what they saw."

- Fan Chengda (Chinese Song Dynasty scholar)

桂林山水甲天下 - "Guilin’s scenery is best among all under heaven."

- popular Chinese saying

Gallery

Guilin Scenery	Guilin landscapes	Pagodas in Guilin	Songs and Performances in Guilin
Seven Star Park	Pagodas in Fir Lake in downtown Guilin	Distant view of Guilin	Panorama of Guilin

External links

• Guilin travel guide from Wikitravel
• 300 photos from Guilin and Surroundings (Longsheng, Yangshuo, Li Fluss)
• Guilin Li River Photo
• subtleties of everyday life in Guilin
• Photos, map and tips about Guilin

Prefecture-level divisions of Guangxi
Prefecture-level cities: Baise • Beihai • Chongzuo • Fangchenggang • Guigang • Guilin • Hechi • Hezhou • Laibin • Liuzhou • Nanning • Qinzhou • Wuzhou • Yulin List of Guangxi County-level divisions

See also

• Shenmue
• Chinese alcoholic beverage
• Li Zongren
• Transportation in Macau
• Bai Chongxi
• Sister City: Nishikatsura Town (西桂町), Japan

Coordinates: 25°16′14″N, 110°17′31″Ezh-classical:桂林

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