Liupanshui () is a city in western

Guizhou Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...

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 A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of Chi ...

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

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangx ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

and

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

provinces. The city was established in 1978 as a prefecture-level municipality.

Administrative divisions

Its administratively divided to the following county-level jurisdictions: * District ** Zhongshan District （） ** Shuicheng District （） * Special District **

Liuzhi Special District Liuzhi Special District () is a district of Guizhou, China. It was known as Langdai Country before 1960. The county is under the administration of Liupanshui city, located in the western part of Guizhou Province. It is bounded by Zhijing and Nayo ...

（） * County-level city ** Panzhou City （）

Ethnic groups

The ''Liupanshui City Ethnic Gazetteer'' () (2003:139, 154, 160) lists the following ethnic groups and their respective locations. *Bai **Pan County (pop. 16,829): in Jiuying (), Gaotun (), Yangchangba (), Luna (), Shahe () **Shuicheng County (pop. 6,711): in Longchang (), Yingpan () *Gelao **Liuzhi Special District (pop. 8,128): in Langdai (), Xinhua (), Duoque () **Shuicheng County (pop. 1,862): in (), (), (), (), () *Shui ** Pan County (pop. 3,519): in () **Shuicheng County (pop. 4,211): in Fa'er

Climate

Transportation

Rail

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

Air

The city is served by

Liupanshui Yuezhao Airport Liupanshui Yuezhao Airport is an airport serving the city of Liupanshui in western Guizhou Province, China. It is located in Yuezhao Township, Zhongshan District and Dongdi Township, Shuicheng County, 15 kilometers from the city center by road ...

Tourism

Tourism in Liupanshui focuses on minority folk culture and

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

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: *

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, United States

References

{{authority control Cities in Guizhou Pearl River (China) Prefecture-level divisions of Guizhou