Guilin - Misplaced Pages

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Guilin(桂林 pinyin: gui4 lin2) is one of China's most picturesque cities, situated northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China on the west bank of the Li River.

History

190,000,000 years ago, the area around present-day Guilin was water, part of an ancient sea. Due to the movement of the Earth's crust, the sea floor eventually rose and became dry land.

In 314 BC, the city of Guilin was founded in the Qin Dynasty as a small settlement along the banks of the Li River.

In 111 BC, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Guilin was named Shi An County.

Guilin prospered in the Tang and Song Dynasties and became the political, economic and cultural centre of Guangxi. The city was also a nexus between the central government and the southwest border, and it was where regular armies were placed to guard that border. Canals were built through the city so that food supplies could be directly transported from the food-productive Yangzi plain to the farthest southwestern point of the empire.

During the Ming Dynasty, Guilin became the capital of Guangxi, due to its immense role in the province.

In 1914, Nanning, another center of the province and a heroic city with more than 1,600 years of history, replaced Guilin as the provincial capital.

In 1921, Guilin became one of the headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

In 1940, the city acquired its present name.

In 1981, this ancient city was listed by the State Council as one of the four cities (the other three being Beijing, Hangzhou and Suzhou) where the protection of historical and cultural heritage, as well as natural scenery, should be treated as a priority project.