This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

Guilin 桂林 Gveilinz
—  Prefecture-level city  —
Gveilinz Si·桂林市
Guilin City (yellow) in Guangxi and China
Administrative divisions within Guilin
Coordinates: 25°16′N 110°17′E / 25.267°N 110.283°E / 25.267; 110.283Coordinates: 25°16′N 110°17′E / 25.267°N 110.283°E / 25.267; 110.283
Country	People's Republic of China
Region	Guangxi
Area
• Total	27,809 km2 (10,737 sq mi)
Elevation	153 m (502 ft)
Population
• Total	4,747,963
• Density	170/km2 (440/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	541000
Website	https://www.guilin.gov.cn/

Guilin (Chinese: 桂林; pinyin: Guìlín; Zhuang: Gveilinz) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of far southern China, sitting on the west bank of the Li 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.

History [link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

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

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, Guilin 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.

Administrative divisions [link]

Guilin administers 17 county-level divisions:

• Five districts: Xiufeng District (秀峰区), Xiangshan District (象山区), Diecai District (叠彩区), Qixing District (七星区), Yanshan District (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 Various Nationalities Autonomous County (龙胜各族自治县).

Geography [link]

Guilin lies in the northern portion of Guangxi, and has a total area of 27,809 square kilometres (10,737 sq mi). The topography of the area is marked by karst formations. The Li River flows through the city.

• Hills and Mountains: Diecai Hill (叠彩山), Elephant Trunk Hill, Wave-Subduing Hill (伏波山), Lipu Mountains, The Cat Mountains (猫儿山) and Yao Mountains (尧山)
• Cave: Reed Flute Cave, Seven Star Cave (七星岩)

Climate [link]

Guilin has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa), with mild winters and long, hot, and humid summers. The monsoon is long, lasting from March to August, and a pronounced dry season occurs in fall and winter; the total annual rainfall is 1,920 millimetres (76 in). Mean temperatures range from 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) in January to 28.7 °C (83.7 °F) in July. Snowfall is rare but possible in winter.

People [link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

• Population: 4 747 963^[2]
• Urban population: 975 638
• Ethnic groups: Zhuang, Yao, Hui, Miao, Han and Dong

Economy [link]

Airport of Guilin

• The GDP per capita was ¥19435 (ca. US$2858) in 2009, ranked no. 125 among 659 Chinese cities.^{[citation needed]}
• 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 Taro, Sanhua Alcohol, pepper sauce, fermented bean curd, Guilin Rice Noodle, water chestnut, grain, fish and dried bean milk cream in tight rolls

Transportation [link]

Airport: Guilin Liangjiang International Airport Train: Guilin Train Station

Budget airlines also operate from the Guilin Liangjiang International Airport - Spring Airlines provides connections to local destinations within China while AirAsia connects passengers to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Colleges and universities [link]

Public [link]

• Guilin University of Technology (桂林理工大学)
• Guilin Medical University (桂林医学院)
• Guilin University of Electronic Technology (桂林电子科技大学)
• Guangxi Normal University (广西师范大学)

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

Scenic spots [link]

Lijiang River connects Guilin and Yangshuo County

Longsheng Rice Terrace (Ping An)

Da Zhai

Scenic spots around Guilin include:

• Jingjiang Princes City, a royal complex dating from the Ming Dynasty that lies near the center of modern Guilin
• Reed Flute Cave (芦笛岩)
• Seven Star Park (七星公园)
• Seven-Star Cave and Ludi (Reed-Flute) Cave
• Camel Mountain and Elephant Trunk Hill （骆驼山）
• Piled Festoon Hill （堆花彩山）
• Crescent Hill （月牙山）
• Fubo Hill (伏波山)
• Nanxi Hill (南溪山)
• Erlang Gorge （二郎山峡谷）
• Huangbu (Yellow Cloth) Beach （黄埔滩）
• Moon Hill (月亮山)
• Longsheng Rice Terrace (龙胜水稻台)
• Daxu Ancient Town (大圩古市镇)
• Duxiu (Solitary Beauty) Peak （独秀峰）
• Liusanjie landscape Garden （刘三姐景观园）

Cuisine [link]

Guilin cuisine is known for its snacks and the use of spices, especially chili. Guilin chili sauce (桂林辣椒酱), used widely in cooking by locals, 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) 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 diarrhoea 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) is another popular delicacy in Guilin.

In popular culture [link]

• Photos of Guilin were used as backdrops for the planet Kashyyyk in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
• Many scenes from the film The Painted Veil, 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.
• This city was featured in Leg 9 of The Amazing Race Season 14.

Quotes [link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

"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

International relations [link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

Twin towns — Sister cities [link]

Guilin is twinned with:

• - Nishikatsura, Yamanashi, Japan
• - Kumamoto City, Japan
• - Hastings, New Zealand
• - Orlando, United States

The Guilin relationship with the New Zealand city Hastings started in 1977, after a research scientist, Dr Stuart Falconer identified a number of common areas of interest between the two cities, including horticulture and their rural-urban mix.

Gallery [link]

• Li River 1.jpg

  Guilin Li River 1

• 

  Guilin Scenery

• 

  Guilin landscapes

• 

  Pagodas in Guilin

• 

  Songs and Performances in Guilin

• 

  Seven Star Park

• Pagodas at Fir Lake in downtown Guilin.jpg

  Pagodas in Fir Lake in downtown Guilin

• 

  Distant view of Guilin

• 

  Gulin Street

• 

  Gulin Pagodas

See also [link]

• Shenmue II
• Chinese alcoholic beverage
• Li Zongren
• Transportation in Macau
• Bai Chongxi

References [link]

Further reading [link]

• Guilin (China) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Guilin

• Guilin Government Official website (Chinese)
• Guilin travel guide from Wikitravel