China Guiyang City:
Guiyang
Resident People:
Population: 3.06 million
Area: 8,038 sq km
General Information:
In ancient China,the north side of a mountain was called "Yin",while the south "yang".thetefore,Guiyang received its name from its location of its urban areas to the south side of Guishan mountain.ln ancient times,Guiyang was so abundant in bamboo that many people made a living by making a bamboo musical instrument called"zhu". Nationalities: Han, Miao, Buyi, Dong, Yi, Shi, Hui, Gelao, Zhuang, Yao and Tujia
History: being called "Zhu" for short; a city with a long history; used to be the place where the Yelang ancient nationality gathered
Climatic Features: subtropical monsoon climate; four seasons not so clearly demarcated; without cold winter and hot summer; temperate and humid; with frost-free period of above 270 days; great climatic difference in the vertical direction; springs with more hailstones; rainy autumns
Average Temperature: 15C annually
Rainfall: annual average precipitation 900~1,500mm, concentrated in summer; average humidity 86 percent
Mountains: Mt.Qianling, Mt.Miaoling, Mt.Baihua, Mt.Hulu, Mt. Jinding, Mt. Luoshi, Mt. Pianzi, Mt.Wufen, Mt.Yungui
Rivers: the Huaxi Brook, the Nanming River, Maotiao River, Lianjiang River, Dushui River, the Qiangling Lake, the Hongfenghu Lake, the Dongfenghu Lak, the Nanjianghe River, the Machahe River
Local Highlights: the wax printing, the embroider, the cross-stich work, Guiyang Changwang Noodle, the Nuoxi and Dixi drama - alive fossil of the drama in an embryonic form
Geography:
Guiyang,the capital of Guizhou province,is the provincial center of politics,economy and culture . Located at 106¡ã07¡ä-107¡ã17¡äEand 26¡ã11¡ä-27¡ã22¡äN, it lies in the eastern yunnan-Guizhou plateau in Southwest China,with a total area of 8,034 square kilometres,The highest place is 1,762 metres above sea level while the lowest place 506 metres.On average,the city center is 1,000 metres above sea level ,Low latitudes, high sea level,and varied topography are the notable features of Guiyang. Location: situated at the east of Yungui Plateau (Guizhou Plateau) of China; in the central part of Guizhou province, the north bank of the Nanming River - a branch of Wujiang River
Neighboring Areas: Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Physical Features: high terrain with the average altitude more than 9 00 to 1000 meters; slopes down from center to the east, north and south; dotted with basins and lakes of different size; with many places of Karst features; located in the mountain area of low altitude, the terrain changes with wide gap from east to west
History:
In the third year in the reign of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty(1569),Chengfan prefecture in Guiyang was renamed Guiyang prefecture,From then on,Guiyang, as a name of an administrative area, has been used until today, with a history of over 400 years.In 1913,Guiyang was made capital of Guizhou province, In 1941, Guiyang officially became a city.
Transport in Guiyang:
Guiyang is the hub of railway communications in Southwest China with the 4 railways (Sichuan-Guizhou,Guizhou-Yunnan,Hunan-Guizhou and Guizhou-Guangxi) joining here. Of the 4 railways, three(Sichuan-Guizhou,Guizhou-Yunnan and Guizhou-Guangxi) have been electrified. The level of railway electrification in Guizhou ranks the first in China.
The South Railway Station of Guiyang, where the 4 railways meet, is not only the largest collecting and distributing center in Guizhou,but also the biggest marshalling yard in Southwest China. It has a capacity of marshalling 8,000 railway trains per day. It has an international container freight yard, with an annual capacity of transport 400,000 tons.
Guiyang Railway Station, the center of passenger transport by train in the province, can allow more than 50 passenger trains to depart and arrive per day. Meanwhile, some tour trains run everyday respectively between Guiyang and Kunming and some other tourist regions in the province.
Guiyang Culture:
Some cultural activity places such as singing and dancing halls, karaoke halls, bowling clubs and book markets are popular places of resort. At present, there are more than 3,000 business owners in the market of culture, among which 300 are engaged in singing and dancing halls; 900 in audio-visual projects; 1,000 in video games and bowling; 500 in books, magazines, newspapers and print; 300 in other items.
Guiyang Attractive points:
Mineral resources
The central part of Guizhou is one of the places of the country which are rich in mineral resources . As in the heart of the central part, Guiyang possesses more than 52 kinds of mineral deposits, such as aluminium, phosphorus, coal, iron, magnesium, silicon, heavy spar, dolomite, limestone, marble and Kaolin. The reserves of the bauxite deposits is 330,000,000 tons, which is one fifth of the total reserves in China. With a reserve of 428,000,000 tons of phosphorus, it is one of the three biggest phosphorus mines in China. Abundant reserves, high grade, concentrated mineral deposit, and easy access are characteristics of the mineral resources in Guizhou.
Folk customs
Guiyang is a city where various ethnic groups live in compact communities. With the unique folk customs and brilliant local culture created by various ethnic groups in the long history, it makes Guiyang a gallery of the folk customs.
[Siyueba Festival] Siyueba festival(April 8th Festival) is a traditional festival celebrated by the Miao, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Zhuang, Yi, Tujia, and Gelao people in Guizhou Province, the west of Hunan Province and the north of Guangxi Province. There are different celebrations in different places, of which the grandest one is held in Guiyang.
On every April 8th on the lunar calendar, the Miao people in Guiyang and nearby gather around the Great Fountain in the city center, in their best costumes to sing and dance to the melodies from the lusheng and the bamboo flutes. Legend has it that S iyueba Festival is in memory of the ancient Miao heroes buried at the place where the Great Fountain now lies on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month that year. This ceremony passed down from generation to generation and has become a custom. Now, this festival is a joyous celebrated day by the Miao, Buyi, Dong, Zhuang, Shui, Gelao, even Han people and other ethnic groups, a grand ceremony to present the traditional folk culture. Some minority young people take advantage of the chance to make friends and choose their future spouses.
[Sanyuesan Festival] Sanyuesan festival(March 3rd Festival) , formerly called the Cutworm Fair, is a traditional festival of the Buyi people, at which in memory of cutworms, the Buyi people scatter fried corns to the slopes and sing folk songs to pray for a harvest.
Now the Cutworm Fair has become Sanyuesan Festival. On every 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month, the Buyi people in Guiyang and nearby gather round the Xinbao Town, Wudang District. Young men and young women either join in the singing competition, or sing in antiphonal style by blowing the tree leaves in the dense forest, or travel in groups along the stream playing with the water and singing cheerfully. When finding each other congenial, they will present gifts to each other and then walk in pairs from the crowds into the woods.
[Liuyueliu Festival] Liuyueliu festival(June 6th Festival) is an important traditional festival of the Buyi people in Guiyang. On every sixth day of the sixth lunar month every year, thousands of the Buyi people in Guiyang and nearby gather on the beautiful banks of the Huaxi River. They enjoy themselves either going through the dense forest, or walking around the flower beds, or going boating, or blowing tree leaves, or singing folk songs.
The festival comes from a legend like this: Long, long ago, a beautiful Buyi girl made an embroidery picture of green mountains and lovely waters with flowers in four seasons. At the sight of this treasured embroidery, the fiend had an evil plan to take it away. After seven days and nights of hard fight, the girl and villagers found it difficult to repulse the fiend's troop.On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, seeing the treasure would be taken away, the girl cast it into the air.Instantly,the picture changed into the beautiful mountains and waters in Huaxi while the fiend died of anger, turning into a pile of tangled stones sinking to the bottom of the Huaxi River. Later, in memory of this Buyi girl who created the beautiful Huaxi, on every sixth day of the sixth lunar month, people gather on the banks of Huaxi River singing and dancing to show their respect. As time passes on, Liuyueliu festival is formed.
[Lusheng Dance] Lusheng is an antique reed instrument. The longest one is more than 1 zhang ( equals 5 metres) while the shortest one is less than 1 chi( equals 3 centimetres). Some have a maxium of 10 reeds. Some have charinet or oboe. The most popular ones have 6 reeds, with forceful but low and deep tone or clear and melodious tone. In the history of the Miao's culture, Lusheng was not only regarded as the symbol of their people, but also combined with dance, music, acrobatics and martial art, etc,. With the communication and interaction of various cultures, Lusheng dance is also popular in the Dong, Shui, Buyi, Yao and Yi ethnic groups.
There are nearly 100 tunes and dance paces, of which, 10 are most popular, with lively rhythm in bold and rough style. Lusheng Dance is composed of two kinds: women' dance accompanied by men's playing and dancing accompanied by one's own playing. Martial art movements of the Miao people and some extremely difficult acrobatic feats have been assimilated in Lusheng dance, which is especially popular. Now, Lusheng Dance is a necessary activity in the festivals of the Miao people in Guiyang.
[Bullfight] Not like that in Spain which is a fight between a man and a bull. Bullfight in the rural areas of Guiyang is a distinctive recreational activity in the slack season. Bullfight is usually held after the transplanting of the rice seedlings and before the harvest, that is between the sixth lunar month and the eighth lunar month. Gaopo and Mengguan are the two villages where bullfights are held. The bull which will join in the fight is called Balang by the local people. To pray a victory for Balang , the relatives and friends of the same village or other villages will invite the owner of a Balang to drink Balang Wine to boost his courage.
Caichang which takes place on the day of bullfight is an exciting prelude. After the report of the iron guns, the Balang with red ribbons tied to the head, and the sheets presented by relatives and friends tied on the back, circles the court followed by the lookers-on. People in many other villages also bring their bulls to join in the ceremony, so that the atmosphere is lively and the scene is most magnificent with the spirited sound of suona horns, the deafening noise of the crackers, cheers and laughters. Then, a reverend elder makes a speech and takes the gifts off the bull's back and the ceremony Caichang concludes.
Upon the agreement of the bull owners, the Bullfight starts formally. If the two bulls are not matched in strength, soon the weak one will fall on the ground and then run away. If they are well matched, they will keep fighting until both panting and foaming at the mouth. Then a veteran will come to seperate them with something like ropes or bamboo poles to avoid casualties.
Usually the bullfight ground is flat in the center with gentle slopes around, so that people can watch easily.
[Dixi] The origin of Dixi can be traced back to Nuo Dance in the primitive societies in China. Ancestors danced with god or animal facial masks to pay tribute to gods and drive away evil spirits and pray for a harvest. Nuoxi is a comprehensive art transformed from the sacrificial singing and dancing ceremonies. Large number of army men and emigrants to Guizhou in the Ming Dynasty brought in Nuoxi, which was popular in the Central Plains and regions in the South of Yangtze river. Later, combined with the local culture, Dixi was formed, which kept the original style of Nuoxi.
Dixi of the Buyi people in Guiyang reaches its climax on the 15th day of the first lunar month of the year. The contents of the stories are mainly based on ancient Chinese stories about going on an expedition and loyalty, with legends narrated by the rural languages. It is interesting that the women characters in Dixi are acted by men. The actors are dressed up with black cloth on the face, a facial mask on the foread, a piece of armour around the waist and a spear or a sword,ect. in his hand,. The magnifcient and unique costumes look colorful and mysterious, filled with the indomitable courage and martial qualities of the ¡°Martial Nuo¡±.
Religion
There are five religions in Guiyang, namely Catholicism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism.Altogether the following 13 ritual houses have been opened to the outside world.
The Catholic Church: Located in the north part of Guiyang, the church is the center of Catholicism in Guiyang, which was first built in 1850. It has the longest history and is the biggest church in Guizhou.
The Christian Church: First built in 1927, the Church covers about 1,400 square metres, with delicately and solemnly decorated houses. On every important Christian festival, the believers will come to fulfil their rituals.
Qianming Temple: Qianming Temple, built in the reign of Congzhen (1628-1644) in the Ming Dynasty, covers 3,500 square metres. It is a provincial class cultural relic and one of the Buddhist centers and key temples in the country and the province. It is splendid in green and gold with a quiet environment. On the occasion of every Buddhist ceremony, there are a great number of people in the temple.
Jueyuan Nunnery: It was built in the reign of Tongzhi (1862-1875) in the Ming Dynasty. The various delicious vegetarian dishes of the nunnery are very much to the taste of the tourists.
Xianrendong Taoist Temple: Built in the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), the temple is the only Taoist place in Guizhou Province, covering 2,000 square metres. It is the key provincial class Taoist temple and the municipal class cultural relic.
The temple is located in the opening of a cave on a cliff difficult of access with magnificent and solemn buildings under the shaddy trees. On every important Taoist festival, you will expect a big crowd of both Taoists and tourists in the temple.
Guiyang Mosque: As an important place for Muslims, Guiyang Mosque is one of the key Mosques in China, covering 460 square metres , first built in the 2nd year in the reign of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty(1724). The magnificent main hall can provide accommodation and meals for Muslims who come to visit the Mosque.
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