Economy

Liuzhou city center in 1948Liuzhou is the second largest city in Guangxi and is the region's industrial center. According to statistics issued by the Liuzhou government in 2015, the city’s GDP was 231.1 billion yuan.Among important companies based in Liuzhou are:LiuGong - a multinational construction machinery manufacturerSAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile - a joint venture between General Motors, SAIC Motor and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co., Ltd.

Transport

Liuzhou Airport provides flights to major cities in China.Liuzhou has extensive rail connections with the rest of China. Hunan-Guangxi Railway (Hengyang - Pingxiang, a.k.a. Xiang-Gui Line), Jiaozuo-Liuzhou Railway (Jiaozuo - Zhicheng - Liuzhou, a.k.a. Jiao-Liu Line) Railway and Guizhou-Guangxi Railway (Guiyang - Liuzhou, a.k.a. Qian-Gui Line) make Liuzhou the center of freight transportation in Guangxi.China National Highway 209

Geography

Liuzhou is located on the banks of the winding Liu River, approximately 255 km (158 mi) from Nanning, the regional capital. By road, it is about 167 km (104 mi) to Guilin, 167 km (104 mi) to Hechi, 237 km (147 mi) to Nanning, 373 km (232 mi) to Fangchenggang, 448 km (278 mi) to Beihai.Swimming in the river is a tradition of the city. The river is normally green, but sometimes in summer, floods from the mountain areas upstream bring sediment which colors the water yellow. In early 2012, a cadmium spill upstream caused serious pollution worries.[2]Climate[edit]Liuzhou has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with mild winters and long hot summers, and very humid conditions year-round. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 10.4 °C (50.7 °F) in January to 28.8 °C (83.8 °F) in July, while extremes have ranged from −1.3 to 39.1 °C (30 to 102 °F).[citation needed] Rain is both the heaviest and most frequent from May to August, when nearly two-thirds of the annual rainfall occurs.

History

Kaiyuan Temple (开元寺, "Temple of Beginning")Ruins of Tang dynastyLiuhou Ancestral Hall柳侯祠，"Ancestral Hall of Liu Noble"Map of the tributaries of the Pearl RiverLiuzhou has a history of more than 2,100 years. The city was founded in 111 B.C. when it was known as Tanzhong(潭中, "Center of Deep Pool").In 742 A.D. it became known as Longcheng (龙城, "Dragon City"), after the Long River, before finally changing to Liuzhou (柳州,"Willow Prefecture") after the Liu River in 1736.The most famous historic figure is Liu Zongyuan (773-819), who was a poet and politician in the Tang Dynasty and who died in Liuzhou. He is commemorated by a park in the city.Liuzhou City in World War Two destroyed and burned by Japanese Army Situation MapLiuzhou was the site of Liuchow Airfield, used by Nationalist Chinese and American Army Air Forces in World War II. It was captured by the Japanese army on 7 November 1944 during the Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou and recaptured by Nationalist Chinese forces on 30 June 1945 prior to the Second Guangxi Campaign.