Liupanshui


Liupanshui is a city in western Guizhou province, People's Republic of China. The name Liupanshui combines the first character from the names of each of the city's three constituent counties: Liuzhi, Panzhou, Shuicheng. As a prefecture-level city with an area of, Liupanshui had a total population of over 2,830,000 in 2006, making it the second largest in the province, though only 251,900 inhabitants were urban residents. The city is known locally as "The Cool City" or "Cool Capital" due to its low average summer temperature.

History

The general area is significant as the seat of the historic Yelang political entity, a confederation of tribes that dominated parts of modern-day Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The city was established in 1978 as a prefecture-level municipality.

Administrative divisions

Its administratively divided to the following county-level jurisdictions:
Map

Ethnic groups

The Liupanshui City Ethnic Gazetteer lists the following ethnic groups and their respective locations.

Rail

Liupanshui is a major rail hub in southwestern China. The Shanghai-Kunming, Liupanshui-Baiguo and Neijiang-Kunming Railways intersect in the city.

Tourism

Tourism in Liupanshui focuses on minority folk culture and karst landform tourism. This includes the underground lake in Qilin Cave Park, Danxia Mountain, about which Xu Xiake, the Chinese travel writer and geographer of the Ming Dynasty, had written. Yushe National Park includes the Jiucai Ping Scenic Zone. The flat-topped Jiucai Ping is the tallest mountain in Guizhou Province at about 2900 meters. Jiucai here means "garlic chives," so named because the mountain is famous for its garlic chive blossoms. Other attractions include the sunrise, the sea of clouds, and unusual rock formations. Also notable is the Tiansheng Bridge, "tiansheng" meaning "god-made." There is also a nature reserve called Shuicheng Francois's Leaf Monkey Nature Reserve.

Cuisine

Local cuisine includes Yangrou fen - Lamb rice noodles, and Luoguo yangyu - Fried potatoes.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Liupanshui is twinned with: