Guilin

Guilin (桂林) means in English "a forest of cassia trees", or "a forest of sweet acanthus". Many varieties of cassia trees grow here and there and in autumn the city is filled with fragrance of their yellow, white and red blossoms.

Guilin is a small city with a history of over 2,000 years. It is about 150 meters above the sea level and covers an area of 565 square kilometers. Guilin used to be the capital city of Guangxi Province in 1911 and in 1949 the capital city was changed to Nanning.

Topographically, Guilin is a good example of karst formation. According to geological surveys, Guilin was originally an expanse of sea. About 300 million years ago, large quantities of limestone were deposited here at the bottom of the sea. About 200 million years ago, because of the upheaval of the earth's crust, which was "Guangxi Movement", the seabed rose and became land. As a result of long years of weathering and erosion by water, beautiful and weird peaks, caverns and underground channels were formed.

Guilin has a temperate climate and plentiful rainfall. The annual average temperature is about 19 degree centigrade with 36-37 degree the hottest and 1-2 degree the coldest. It seldom snows in winter and flowers blossom in all seasons.

Guilin not only has beautiful scenery, it also has lots of historical relics. There are many stone images of Buddha and slab inscriptions reflecting the political, cultural and economic situations of the times. So there is an old saying," To look at the mountains is to enjoy pictures; to tour the mountains is to study history."

Before 1949, Guilin had only four small factories with a little over 200 workers. In the street you could find only one bus, shabby houses and muddy roads. Great changes have taken place in Guilin, especially since 1976.

Since1985, Guilin has been among the top ten tourist cities in China. Millions of visitors have been to Guilin. The city is highly praised: "Guilin leads the world in beauty." "I'd rather be a resident of Guilin than be a celestial being."

Major attractions

Three mountains: The Elephant Hill, the Fubo Hill and the Diecai Hill

Two Caves: The Reed Flute Cave, the Seven Star Cave

One River: The Li River

Yangshuo County:       Mountains and waters

Longsheng County: Ethnicminorities

Xing'an County: Qin Dynasty Canal

Population: 1,220,000

　

Nationalities of the Inhabitants of Guilin

31 nationalities including:

Han Nationality: 1,120,000 91%

Zhuang Nationality: 61,300 5%

Yao Nationality: 21,000 1.7%

Hui Nationality: 10,000 1%

Transportation

The city has more than 700 enterprises with 120,000 workers. The major industries are rubber, radio, electronic, textile, brewery, medicine, arts and crafts. The city has over 30,000 vehicles (among them over 2,000 taxis). There are over 30 bus routes. About 5 bus routes provide city transportation service free of charge.

The Guilin International Airport has flights to all major cities in China including Hong Kong and Macao. It also has direct flights to Japan and Korea, and will open more flights to more countries and regions.

Tele-Communication

There are numerous telephone service stands where long distance calls can be made. Collect calls can be dialed in most of the hotels. Post offices have multi-function. They have tele-communication service, service of subscription to magazines and newspapers, money remittance, mail service of parcels and letters and saving service. 

　

Major Banks

Bank of China

Agricultural Bank of China

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China

Construction Bank of China

Bank of Communications

　

Exchange rate:

Cash: USD1=Y8.07

Traveller's check: USD1=Y8.27

　

Local flavors

Chilly Sauce

Fermented Beancurd

Three Dimples Liquor

Rice Noodles

Sour Fish Hot pot

Beer Fish

Pomelo

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