Guangxi: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Guǎngxī (Simplified Chinese: 广西, Traditional: 廣西, also transliterated as Kwangsi or Kuang-hsi in Wade-Giles) is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its formal name is the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Together, Guangxi and Guangdong are called the "Two Guang" (兩廣 liǎng guǎng).

广西壮族自治区

Province Abbreviation(s): 桂
Capital	Nanning
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 9th 236,000 km² xx%
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 11th 44,980,000 191/km²
Administration Type	Autonomous Region
Chairman of the Government	Lu Bing

History

The region officially became part of China in 214 BC, when the army of the Qin Dynasty claimed most of the southern provinces, including Guangdong.

Guangxi is subdivided into 11 cities, 65 counties and 12 autonomous counties.

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, and by Vietnam and the Beibu Bay (South China Sea) to the southwest.

Major cities include: Nanning, Beihai, Guilin, Liuzhou.

Notable towns include: Longmen, Sanjiang, Yangshuo.

The region has a high concentration of Zhuang. Over 90% of the Chinese Zhuang people inhabit this region. There is also a significant number of both Dong and Miao minority people. Other ethnic groups include: Yao, Hui, Yi and Shui.

The major tourist attraction of Guangxi is Guilin, a town famed across China and the world for its spectacular setting by the 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 Longmen rice terraces, said to be some of the steepest in the world. Nearby Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County features unique Dong minority architecture.

	Province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China
Provinces¹: Anhui | Fujian | Gansu | Guangdong | Guizhou | Hainan | Hebei | Heilongjiang | Henan | Hubei | Hunan | Jiangsu | Jiangxi | Jilin | Liaoning | Qinghai | Shaanxi | Shandong | Shanxi | Sichuan | Yunnan | Zhejiang Autonomous Regions: Guangxi | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Tibet | Xinjiang Municipalities: Beijing | Chongqing | Shanghai | Tianjin Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong | Macau ¹ See also: Political status of Taiwan