(1)外文名称: Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
    (2)中文名称: 广西壮族自治区
    (3)内容:
                          广 西 壮 族 自 治 区
                      Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Location:
   The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is located in southern China. It is bordered by Yunnan Province to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast, and Guangdong to the southeast, and by Vietnam and the Beibu Bay to the southwest. It covers an area of 236,661 square km, and measures
over 770 km from east to west and 610 km from north to south. It is the unique province of China that is located along the coast.
   Nanning, the regional capital, is about 75 miles southwest of the region's geographic center.
History:
   Guangxi was known as the land of Baiyue during the late Zhou Dynasty from 453-221 BC. The ancestors of the Zhuang people inhabited the region and had an economy based on rice. East Guangxi was entered by Han people in 214 BC under the Qin dynasty, and the Lingqu Canal was dug to link the Xiangjiang River and Guijiang River to form a north-south waterway.
The Landscape:
Relief: Guangxi forms a tableland that descends in elevation from the north and northwest to the south and southeast. Elevation between 3,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level are reached at the edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the northwest, the Jiuwan Mountains and the Fenghuang Mountains in the north, and the Mao-er Mount in northeast. The greater part of the region is composed of hilly country lying at a height of between 1,500 to 3,000 feet. In the west, the Duyang Mountain rises to 6,500 feet. In the southeast, lowlands are situated at the height of between 300 and 1,500 feet.
   The predominance of limestone gives many parts of Guangxi a spectacular type of landscape, known to geographers as "karst", in which pinnacles and spires, caves and caverns, sinkholes, and subterranean streams abound. Picturesque rocky hills, spires of grotesque proportions, strangely shaped caves, and all manner of stalactites and stalagmites are to be seen in many different parts of this region.
    Drainage and soils: The Qinjiang river and the Nanliu  River flow into the Beibu Bay. The headwaters of the Xiangjiang River flow into Hunan Province. The remainder of the region's numerous rivers -- including the Hongshui River, the Luijiang, the Youjiang and Zuojiang, the Mingjiang, the Yujiang, the Qinjiang, and Guijiang -- follow the general southeastward slant of the terrain. They rise from a profusion of sources and flow into
other another in a succession of convergence until they merge into one giant river -- the Xijiang River. This mighty river rises in Yunnan Province and cuts across the entire width of Guangxi before emptying into the South China Sea near Guangzhou in Guangdong Province.
    The hilly areas are composed of red soil, while the lowlands are characterized by alluvial soil brought down by the many rivers.
Climate:
    Throughout the region, temperatures are warm enough to assure agricultural production throughout the year. The summer, covering a seven-month period from April to October, is marked by enervating heating and high humidity. Winter is mild and snow  rare. July temperatures vary between 27°C and 32°C, while January temperatures range between 4°C and 16°C. The north experiences slightly cooler temperature than the south.
    Because of the influence of the rain-bearing monsoon wind, which blows from the south and southwest from late April to the end of September, precipitation is abundant; the drier areas are in the northwest, and the wetter areas in the south and east. The average annual rainfall varies from 35 inches in the drier areas to 68 in the wetter zones. Most of the precipitation
occurs in the period between May and August. In the extreme south, rain bursts caused by typhoons occur between November and February.
Vegetation and Animal Life:
    Stands of fir, red pine, cedar, camphor, and rosewood are found in north and west; oranges grow in profusion in the south; while the cassia tree, anise, and betel nuts flourish in many parts of the region. In central and south Guangxi , many denuded hillsides have been taken over by tall coarse grass, which is used for fuel or as pasturage for young water buffaloes. Prominent types of wild life include the bison, boar, bear, gibbon, hedgehog, and cockatoo.
Population:
    Ethnic groups:  The Zhuang live largely in the western two-thirds of the region, while the Han are concentrated in the eastern third. Two distinct Chinese linguistic influences are noted -- a southwest version of Mandarin is spoken in the north, including Guilin and Liuzhou districts while Cantonese
dialect is spoken throughout the south of the region. The Yao, Miao, and Dong people are widely scattered.
    The Zhuang people have inhabited Guangxi since ancient times. Living on the plains and in the river valleys of the hilly west, they cultivate rice in paddy fields and practice an economy that easily merges with that of the Han people. They are often referred to as "water dwellers" because their settlements are close to water and their dwellings are constructed on piles or
stilts. For two millennia, the Zhang have coexisted with the Han; together they constitute the two largest ethnic groups in Guangxi.
    Minority policy:  The central government attaches great importance to the treatment of minorities and promotes the local autonomy of the Zhuang, the Yao, the Miao, and other ethnic groups in an effort to assure their equality in an atmosphere of inter-ethnic cooperation.
Agriculture:
    Agriculture is concentrated in the river valleys and on the limestone plains. The hillsides are terraced wherever feasible.
    Major grain crops include rice, maize, wheat, and sweet potatoes. The leading commercial crops include peanuts, sesame, ramie or China grass, tobacco, tea, cotton, and indigo. Guangxi is also a major producer of fruits -- notably pomelos (a kind of grapefruit), tangerines, mandarin oranges, lemons, litchis (the fruit of a plant of the soapberry family), pears, papayas,
bananas, and water chestnuts.
    The raising of livestock in Guangxi is ancillary to farming. Buffaloes are used as draft animals in the paddy field. Pigs, chickens, and ducks are raised on farms and goats are raised in the hills. In many areas, silkworms are raised on mulberry leaves.
Fishing:
    Fishing is extensive. Both inshore and deep-sea fishing are carried on in the Beibu Bay. Catcher include croaker (a fish that makes a croaking noise),herring, squid, prawns, eels, perch, mackerel, sharks, and sturgeon. The catching of fish fry in the region's many streams is characteristic of the freshwater fishing industry. The fishing season begins in the spring when warm weather raises the water level of the rivers and the fish fry are sufficiently grown. The fry of wan yu (corvina) hatch first, that of pilchard next, and lien yu (bream) and others last. The fish-fry industry is heavily concentrated on the Yong Jiang River between Guiping and Wuzhou. Fish culture and the
production of silkworms are complementary; the waste cocoons of silkworms are fed to the fish, and mud from fishponds is used as fertilizer for mulberry bushes.
Forestry:
    Guangxi is an important producer of timber and forest products in China. In the north, large quantities of pine, fir, cedar, and giant bamboo are exploited and marketed at liuzhou. Red and black sandalwood are also produced in the Yu Jiang Valley. Firewood, mushrooms, wood fungus, and bamboo shoots are also
sold. More important are, however, sandarac (a resin used in making varnish and incense), star anise (Chinese anise), cassia bark (Chinese cinnamon),nutgall (a swelling on oak trees that produces tannin), and camphor. Tung oil, tea oil, and fennel oil are also produced. Some of these products are vital to traditional Chinese medicine, as are cardamom husks, cassia twigs, plantain seed, the seed of wax tree, castor-oil seed, mugwort (a perennial herb) powder, dried lizard, mangosteen (a dark-brown fruit) and quinine.
Mining:
    Guangxi has sufficient coal and iron deposits to support moderate industrial development. Coal is mined in the Xiang'an-Quanzhou region north of Guilin and in the Laibin-Litang region south of Liuzhou. Iron is mined in the east near the Guangdong-Hunan border, and Guiping and Beiliu. Exploited
mineral resources include tin, tungsten, manganese, and antimony. Moderate amounts of bismuth, zinc, and lead are also produced.
Industry:
     Light industries produce textiles, paper, flour, silk, leather, matches, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, as well as sandarac gum, sugar, dyestuffs, and oils and fats. Pine resin is a particularly notable export commodity of Wuzhou. Heavy
industries include the iron works and steelworks at Liuzhou, machinery production at Nanning and Wuzhou, and the cement works at Liuzhou. Among the numerous handicraft products, special mention may be made of the native cotton cloth of Yulin; the ramie cloth of Guilin; the bamboo paper and rice paper of Chaoping and Guilin; and the bamboo combs of Guilin, Pinyang produces such
articles as ceramics, fans, felt caps, copperware, combs, brushes and straw bonnets.
Transportation and Communication:
    Water transport: The elaborate system of waterways provides transportation almost throughout the region. Going north from Wuzhou, the Guijiang River is navigable for junks to its source as well as to the Xiangjiang River via the Lingqu Canal. Westward from Wuzhou, steam boats, motorboats, and junks navigate the hundred miles of the Yongjiang River to Guiping. Conditions are
far more favorable on the Yujiang River, which is navigable by small steamers, motor launches, and junks from Guiping to Nanning. Farther inland, junks ply the headwaters of the Youjiang River to Bo'ai in Yunnan and those of the Zuojiang River to Shuikouguan on the Vietnamese border.
    Railways: The Hunan-Guangxi Railway from Hengyang to Youyiguan runs diagonally across the region from the northeast to the southwest. It forms a vital continental artery that is connected to the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway at Hengyang and to the Vietnamese railway at Dongdang. The Guangxi-Guizhou
Railway links Liuzhou to Guiyang, and is a great impetus to the development of northern Guangxi. Another line runs from Litang on the Hunan-Guangxi railway to Zhanjiang, a seaport in southwest Guangdong. It facilitates the trade of southeastern Guangxi as well as the development of the mineral resources of Hainan province. Plans for future development include a major
line from Nanning westward to Yiliang, Yunnan Province; another major line from Bose northward to Guiyang; and a shorter line in the northeast to link Guilin to Lianxian, Guangdong Province.
    Roads: The highway system has undergone continuous expansion. Highways in the east radiate from Guilin, Liuzhou, Nanning, and Yulin. The expanded network forms a central rectangle, with Nantan, Liuzhou, Nanning, and Bose at its four corners. Running almost due north and south, a trunk road
connects Duyun in Guizhou Province, Nantan, and Nanning to the coast of the Beibu Bay. From Liuzhou, roads lead east to Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, north to Guilin and Hengyang and Yuanling in Hunan Province, and south to Nanning. From Nanning, roads lead south to Pingxiang and You-yi-guan, southeast to Beihai, and west to Bose. From Bose roads extend out northeast to Nantan, northwest to Anlong, Guizhou Province; west to Wenshan, Yunnan Province; and south to Cao Bang, Vietnam. Serving the southeast, one major highway parallels the Litang-Zhanjiang railway; the coastal highway runs from Pingxiang in the west to Guangdong in the east.