Guizhou

贵州省 Guìzhōu Shěng
Abbreviations: 黔 or 贵 (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	Lin Shusen (acting)
Area	176,100 km² (16th)
Population (2004)  - Density	39,040,000 (15th) 222/km² (18th)
GDP (2004)  - per capita	CNY 159.2 billion (26th) CNY 4010 (31st)
HDI (2005)	0.639 (medium) (30th)
Major nationalities	Han - 62% Miao - 12% Buyi - 8% Dong - 5% Tujia - 4% Yi - 2% Undistinguished - 2% Gelao - 2% Shui - 1%
Prefecture-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

(Simplified Chinese: 贵州; Traditional Chinese: 貴州; pinyin: Gùizhōu; Wade-Giles: Kuei-chou; also spelled 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

Guizhou was well known by the Chinese for thousands of years but it was not until the Ming dynasty that it came under Chinese domination during which it was made a province. This prompted mass migration from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou.

Countless rebellions by its native Miao people occurred throughout the Qing dynasty. 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.

Economy

Guizhou is a relatively poor and undeveloped province. It also has a small economy compared to the coastal provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2004 was 159.2 billion yuan (19.75 billion USD). Its per capita GDP of 3568 RMB (470 USD) ranks last in all of the PRC.

Its natural industry includes timber and forestry. Other important industries in the province include energy (electricity generation) and mining, especially in coal, limestone, arsenic, gypsum, and oil shale. Guizhou's total output of coal was 110 million tons in 2005, a 12% growth from the previous year. [1]

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 one of the provinces that contains the most minority groups. The minority groups account for more than 37% of the total population and they include Yao, Miao, Yi, Qiang, Dong, Zhuang, Buyi, Bai, Tujia, Gelao and Shui. 55.5% of the province area is designated as autonomous regions for them. Guizhou is the province with highest TFR in China with 2.19. (Urban-1.31, Rural-2.42) [2]

Culture

Guizhou is the home of the Moutai Distillery, distillers of Maotai liquor, China's most famous alcoholic beverage. The Chinese name of the distillery is Zhongguo Guizhou Maotai Jiuchang.

Tourism

File:Huangguoshudapubu.JPG

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.

Miscellaneous topics

Colleges and universities

• Guizhou University (Guiyang)

Guizhou Normal University (Guiyang); Zunyi Medical College (Zunyi); Guiyang Medical University (Guiyang); Guizhou University for Nationalities (Guiyang); Guizhou College of Finace and Economics (Guiyang); Commercial College of Guizhou (Guiyang); Bijie University; Anshun Vocational and Technology College (Anshun)

Communications

Guizhou Daily

External links

• Guizhou's Provincial Government (Chinese)
• Large map of Guizhou
• Guizhou Moutai

Template:Guizhou

Credits

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