Everything about Guangxi totally explained
Guangxi, full name
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is a
Zhuang autonomous region of the
People's Republic of China.
Its location in southern China, along its border with Vietnam, and mountainous terrain, has made it one of the border frontiers of Chinese civilization. Even into the 20th century it was considered an open, wild territory. The current name "Guang" itself means "expanse", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in
226 AD. It was given provincial level status during the Yuan Dynasty and in 1949 was reformed as one of China's four minority autonomous regions.
The abbreviation of the province is 桂 (Gui), which comes from
Guilin, former capital, center of much of Guangxi's culture, politics, and history, and currently a major city in the autonomous region.
History
Part of the region officially became part of China in
214 BC, when the army of the
Qin Dynasty claimed most of southern China. The name "Guangxi" can be traced to the
Song Dynasty, which administered the area as a
circuit called the
Guangnanxi Circuit (literally "Guang-South West Circuit"). During the late
Mongol Yuan Dynasty the name was revived again to name a province in the region, but it was shortened to "Guangxi", or "Guang-West". For the next six centuries, Guangxi was a province of China, until its conversion into an autonomous region by the People's Republic of China because of its large minority population.
During the late
Qing Dynasty, Guangxi was the site of the
Jintian Uprising (金田起义), which occurred in what is now
Guiping county in eastern Guangxi on
January 11,
1851. On
March 23,
1885, Zhennan Pass (now Youyi Pass) on the border with Vietnam was also the site of the
Battle of Zhennan Pass (镇南关战役) during the
Franco-Chinese War. During the battle, a French incursion was routed by Chinese forces under
Feng Zicai (冯子才), an event that has been exalted by subsequent
Chinese nationalism.
After the founding of the
Republic of China, Guangxi served as the base for one of the most powerful warlord cliques of China: the
Old Guangxi Clique. Led by
Lu Jung-t'ing (陆荣廷) and others, the clique was able to take control of neighbouring
Hunan and
Guangdong provinces as well. The Old Guangxi Clique crumbled in the early
1920s, to be replaced by the
New Guangxi Clique, led by
Li Zongren and
Bai Chongxi. Guangxi is also noted for the
Baise Uprising (百色起义), a communist uprising led by
Deng Xiaoping in
1929. Communist bases were set up, but eventually destroyed by
Kuomintang forces.
In
1944, near the end of
World War II, Japan invaded Guangxi as part of
Operation Ichigo (also known as the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi Campaign (豫湘桂战役), in an attempt to seize the
Hunan-Guangxi railway line and open a land link to
French Indochina. The operation succeeded and most major cities in Guangxi came under Japanese occupation.
Being in the far south, Guangxi wasn't taken by communist forces until after the People's Republic was formed; it joined in December
1949, two months after the Republic's foundation. In
1958, Guangxi was converted into an autonomous region for the
Zhuang, by recommendation of Premier
Zhou Enlai. This decision was made because the Zhuang were one of the biggest minority groups in China, and were mostly concentrated in Guangxi; however, they form a minority of Guangxi's population.
For most of its history, Guangxi was landlocked. In
1952, a small section of Guangdong's coastline was given to Guangxi, giving it access to the sea. This was reversed in
1955, then restored in
1965.
While some development of heavy industry occurred in the province in the 1960s and 1970s, it remained largely a tourist destination and home of scenery which brought people from all over the world. Even the economic growth in China in the 1990s seemed to leave Guangxi behind. However in recent years there has been a growing amount of industrialization, and concentration on cash crops. Per capita GDP has begun rising more rapidly, as industries in Guangdong seek a way to locate production to lower wage areas.
Administrative divisions
Guangxi is divided into fourteen
prefecture-level cities, fifty-six
counties, thirty-four
districts, twelve ethnic
autonomous counties and seven
county-level cities. The fourteen prefecture-level cities are:
Politics
Secretaries of the
CPC Guangxi Committee:
Zhang Yunyi (张云逸): 1949-1953
Chen Manyuan (陈漫远): 1953-1957
Liu Jianxun (刘建勋): 1957-1961
Wei Guoqing (韦国清): 1960-1966
Qiao Xiaoguang (乔晓光): 1966-1967
Wei Guoqing (韦国清): 1970-1975
An Pingsheng (安平生): 1975-1977.
Qiao Xiaoguang (乔晓光): 1977-1985
Chen Huiguang (陈辉光): 1985-1990
Zhao Fulin (赵富林): 1990-1997
Cao Bochun (曹伯纯): 1997-2006
Liu Qibao (刘奇葆): 2006-2007
Guo Shengkun (郭声琨): 2007-incumbent
Chairmen of Government:
Zhang Yunyi (张云逸): 1949-1953
Chen Manyuan (陈漫远): 1953.08-1955
Chen Manyuan (陈漫远): 1955-1958
Wei Guoqing (韦国清): 1958-1975
An Pingsheng (安平生): 1975-1977
Qiao Xiaoguang (乔晓光): 1977-1979
Tan Yingji (覃应机): 1979-1983
Wei Chunshu (韦纯束): 1983-1990
Cheng Kejie (成克杰): 1990-1998
Li Zhaozhuo (李兆焯): 1998-2003
Lu Bing (陆兵): 2003-December 2007
Ma Biao (马飚): December 2007-incumbent
Economy
Important crops in Guangxi include rice, maize, sweet potatoes, and wheat. Cash crops include sugar cane, peanuts, tobacco, and kenaf.
Guangxi has more tin, manganese, and indium deposits than any other province of China.
In recent years Guangxi's economy has languished behind that of its wealthy neighbour and twin, the province of Guangdong.
Guangxi's 2006 nominal GDP was about 480.2 billion yuan (US$62.1 billion) and ranked sixteenth in China. Its per capita GDP was 10,240 yuan (US$1,330).
Demographics
)
}}
The region has a high concentration of Zhuang, over 14 million, one of the major minority ethnicities of China. Over 90% of Zhuang in China live in Guangxi, especially in the central and western regions. There is also a significant number of both Dong and Miao minority peoples. Other ethnic groups include: Yao, Hui, Yi (Lolo), Shui, and Gin (Vietnamese).
Culture
"Guangxi" and neighbouring Guangdong literally mean "Guang West" and "Guang East". Together, Guangdong and Guangxi are called the "Two Guangs" (两广, Liǎng Guǎng). Its culture and language are reflected in this. Though now associated with the Zhuang ethnic minority, Guangxi's culture traditionally has had a close connection with the Cantonese. Cantonese culture and language followed the Xi River valley from Guangdong and is still predominate in the eastern half of Guangxi today. Outside of this area there's a huge variety of ethnicities and language groups represented.
Guangxi is known for its ethno-linguistic diversity. In the capital of Nanning, for example, four dialect-languages are spoken locally: Southwestern Mandarin, Cantonese, Pinghua, and Zhuang.
Geography
Located in the southern part of the country, Guangxi is bordered by Yunnan to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast, and Guangdong to the southeast. It is also bounded by Vietnam in the southwest and the Gulf of Tonkin in the south.
Guangxi is a mountainous region. The Nanling Mountains are found in the northeast border, with the Yuecheng Mountains (越城岭) and Haiyang Mountains (海洋山) being its shorter branching ridges. Nearer to the center of the region are the Dayao Mountains (大瑶山) and the Daming Mountains (大明山). To the north there are the Duyao Mountains (都阳山) and the Fenghuang Mountains (凤凰山), while on the southeast border there are the Yunkai Mountains (云开大山). The highest point is Mount Mao'er (猫儿山) located in the Yuecheng Mountains, at 2141 m.
Many rivers cut valleys through the mountains. Most of these rivers form the tributary basin of the West River:
Guangxi has a short coastline on the Gulf of Tonkin. Important seaports include Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang.
Guangxi has a subtropical climate. Summers are generally long and hot. Average annual temperature is 17 to 23°C, while average annual precipitation is 1250 to 1750 mm.
Major cities include: Nanning, Beihai, Guilin, Liuzhou.
Notable towns include: Longmen, Sanjiang, Yangshuo.
Institutions of higher learning
Guangxi University
Guangxi Medical University
Guangxi Normal University
Guilin University of Electronic Technology
Tourism
The major tourist attraction of Guangxi is Guilin, a town famed across China and the world for its spectacular setting by the Lijiang River (Li River) amongst severe karst peaks. It also used to be the capital of Guangxi, and Jingjiang Princes City, the old princes residence, is open to the public. South of Guilin down the river is the town of Yangshuo, which has become a favourite destination for foreign tourists, particularly backpackers.
Ethnic minorities native to Guangxi, such as the Zhuang and Dong, are also interesting for tourists. The northern part of the province, bordering with Guizhou, is home to the Longsheng rice terraces, said to be some of the steepest in the world. Nearby Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Guangxi'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://guangxi.totallyexplained.com">Guangxi Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
