Guizhou

Guizhou Province
Chinese : 贵州省 Guìzhōu Shěng
Abbreviations: 黔 or 贵/貴  (pinyin: Qián or Guì)
Origin of name	贵 guì - Gui Mountains 州 zhōu - zhou (prefecture)
Administration type	Province
Capital (and largest city)	Guiyang
CPC Ctte Secretary	Shi Zongyuan
Governor	Zhao Kezhi
Area	176,100 km2 (68,000 sq mi) (16th)
- Latitude	24° 37' to 29° 13' N
- Longitude	103° 36' to 109° 33' E
Population (2010)  - Density	34,746,468 (19th) 198 /km2 (510 /sq mi) (18th)
GDP (2010)  - per capita	CNY 459.3 billion US$ 67.8 billion (26th) CNY 13,119 US$ 1,938 (31st)
HDI (2008)	0.690 (medium) (30th)
Ethnic composition	Han - 62% Miao - 12% Buyei - 8% Dong - 5% Tujia - 4% Yi - 2% Undistinguished - 2% Gelao - 2% Sui - 1%
Languages and dialects	Southwestern Mandarin
Prefectural level	9 divisions
County level	88 divisions
Township level*	1539 divisions
ISO 3166-2	CN-52
Official website http://www.gzgov.gov.cn (Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data: 《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382 Source for nationalities data: 《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255 *As at December 31, 2004
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 Guizhou (simplified Chinese: 贵州; traditional Chinese: 貴州; pinyin: Guìzhōu; Wade–Giles: Kuei-chou; Postal map spelling: Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.

History

During the Chinese Han Dynasty from about the third to the first centuries BCE, Guizhou was home to the powerful and independent Yelang polity, which covered parts of modern day Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

During the 8th and 9th centuries in the Tang Dynasty, Chinese soldiers moved into Guizhou (Kweichow) and married native women, their descendants are known as Lao-han-jen (original Chinese), in contrast to new chinese who colonized Guizhou at later times. They still speak an archaic dialect. Many immigrants to Guizhou were descended from these soldiers in garrisons who married non Chinese women.

It was not until the Ming Dynasty^{[citation needed]}that it came under heavy Chinese settlement and domination during which it was made a province. This prompted mass migration from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou. The Miao revolted several times against Ming during the Miao Rebellions (Ming Dynasty).

During the Qing Dynasty, Han Chinese soldiers moved into the Taijiang region of Guozhou, married Miao women, and the children were brought up as Miao.

Many rebellions by its native Miao people occurred throughout the Qing Dynasty like the rebelion in 1735, the uprising of 1795-1806 and the longest being the revolt of 1854–1873. It was said in the Qing Dynasty that every thirty years there would be minor revolts, while every sixty years there would be major rebellions. All the revolts would be violently suppressed by the government.

Geography

Bouyei minority Shitou village, west Guizhou (near Longgong caves), China.

Guizhou adjoins Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality to the north, Yunnan Province to the west, Guangxi Province to the south and Hunan Province to the east. Overall Guizhou is a mountainous province however it is more hilly in the west while the eastern and southern portions are relatively flat. The western part of the province forms part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

Other cities include: Anshun, Kaili, Zunyi, Duyun, Liupanshui and Qingzhen.

Guizhou has a subtropical humid climate. There are few seasonal changes. Its annual average temperature is roughly 10 to 20 °C, with January temperatures ranging from 1 to 10°C and July temperatures ranging from 17 to 28 °C.

Like in China's other southwest provinces, rural areas of Guizhou suffered severe drought during spring 2010. One of China's poorest provinces, Guizhou is experiencing serious environmental problems, such as desertification and persistent water shortages. On 3–5 April 2010, China's Premier Wen Jiabao went on a three days inspection tour in the southwest drought-affected province of Guizhou, where he met villagers and called on agricultural scientists to develop drought-resistant technologies for the area.

Politics

Main articles: Politics of Guizhou and List of provincial leaders of the People's Republic of China

The politics of Guizhou is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.

The Governor of Guizhou is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Guizhou. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Guizhou Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Guizhou CPC Party Chief".

Administrative divisions

Main article: List of administrative divisions of Guizhou

Guizhou is made up of 9 prefecture-level divisions, 88 county-level divisions, and 1543 township-level divisions.

The nine prefecture-level divisions are:

Map	#	Name	Administrative Seat	Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010)
	— Prefecture-level city —
	6	Guiyang	Yunyan District	贵阳市 Guìyáng Shì	4,324,561
	1	Bijie	Qixingguan District	毕节市 Bìjíe Shì	6,536,370
	2	Zunyi	Honghuagang District	遵义市 Zūnyì Shì	6,127,009
	3	Tongren	Bijiang District	铜仁市 Tóngrén Shì	3,092,365
	4	Liupanshui	Zhongshan District	六盘水市 Liùpánshuǐ Shì	2,851,180
	5	Anshun	Xixiu District	安顺市 Ānshùn Shì	2,297,339
	— Autonomous prefecture —
	7	Qianxinan (Buyei & Miao) Prefecture	Xingyi	黔西南布依族苗族自治州 Qiánxī'nán Bùyīzú Miáozú Zìzhìzhōu	2,805,857
	8	Qiannan (Buyei & Miao) Prefecture	Duyun	黔南布依族苗族自治州 Qiánnán Bùyīzú Miáozú Zìzhìzhōu	3,231,161
	9	Qiandongnan (Miao & Dong) Prefecture	Kaili	黔东南苗族侗族自治州 Qiándōngnán Miáozú Dòngzú Zìzhìzhōu	3,480,626

Economy

Guiyang is the provincial capital of Guizhou.

Guizhou is a relatively poor and economically undeveloped province, but rich in natural, cultural and environmental resources. Its nominal GDP for 2009 was 389.35 billion yuan (57 billion USD). Its per capita GDP of 10,258 RMB (1,502 USD) ranks last in all of the PRC.

Its natural industry includes timber and forestry. Guizhou is also the third largest producer of tobacco in China, and home to the well-known brand Guizhou Tobacco. Other important industries in the province include energy (electricity generation) - a large portion of which is exported to Guangdong and other provinces - and mining, especially in coal, limestone, arsenic, gypsum, and oil shale. Guizhou's total output of coal was 118 million tons in 2008, a 7% growth from the previous year. Guizhou's export of power to Guangdong equaled 12% of Guangdong's total power consumption. Over the next 5 years Guizhou hopes to increase this by as much as 50%.

Economic and Technological Development Zones

• Guiyang Economic & Technological Development Area
• Guiyang National New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone

Transportation

The Beipanjiang River Railway Bridge on the Liupanshui–Baiguo Railway in western Guizhou is the highest railway bridge in the world.

Rail

The main trucklines of Guizhou's rail network are the Shanghai–Kunming, Sichuan–Guizhou and Guizhou–Guangxi Railways, which form a cross centered at Guiyang. The Chongqing–Huaihua Railway cuts across the northeast corner of the province at Tongren, the Neijiang–Kunming Railway skirts the northwest corner of the province at Weining and the Nanning–Kunming Railway passes through Xingyi in the southwest corner. The Weishe–Hongguo, Pan County West and Liupanshui–Baiguo Railways in western Guizhou are used to transport coal mined in the region.

Demographics

The long-horn tribe, one of the small branches of Miao living in the twelve villages near Zhijing (织金) County, Guizhou Province. The wooden horns remain daily attire for most women.

Guizhou is demographically one of China's most diverse provinces. Minority groups account for more than 37% of the population and they include Miao (including Gha-Mu and A-Hmao), Yao, Yi, Qiang, Dong, Zhuang, Buyei, Bai, Tujia, Gelao and Sui. 55.5% of the province area is designated as autonomous regions for ethnic minorities. Guizhou is the province with the highest fertility rate in China, standing at 2.19. (Urban-1.31, Rural-2.42)

Culture

Guizhou is the home of the Maotai Distillery, distillers of Maotai liquor, China's most famous alcoholic beverage. The Chinese name of the distillery is Zhongguo (China) Guizhou Maotai Jiuchang (Wine factory)/ China Guizhou Maotai Wine Factory (simplified: 中國貴州茅台酒厂).

Tourism

Huangguoshu Waterfall, the largest in China.

Drum tower in the Dong village of Zhaoxing, southern Guizhou.

The province has many covered bridges, called Wind and Rain Bridges. These were built by the Dong minority people.

The southeastern corner of the province is known for its unique Dong minority culture. Towns such as Rongjiang, Liping, Diping and Zhaoxing are scattered amongst the hills along the border with Guangxi.

The rich population of minorities in Guizhou allow for a great many ethnic festivals throughout the lunar calendar. During the first lunar month (usually February), the early festival in Kaili (east of Guiyang) celebrates local culture with acts of bullfighting, horse racing, pipe playing, and comedy works.

Colleges and universities

Main article: List of universities and colleges in Guizhou

• Guizhou University (Guiyang)
• Guizhou Normal University (Guiyang)
• Zunyi Medical College (Zunyi)
• Guiyang Medical University (Guiyang)
• Guizhou Nationalities University (Guiyang)

Media

• Guizhou Daily

External links

• (Chinese (PRC))Guizhou government website
• (English)Guiyang Government website
• (English)Arts and culture of southwest China
• (English)Guizhou Sister Rice Festival
• (English) Guizhou travel guide from Wikitravel