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'' (; also spelled ''Kweichow'') is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.

Contents

History

Geography

Administrative divisions

Economy

Demographics

Culture

Tourism

Miscellaneous topics

Colleges and universities

Communications

External links

History

Guizhou was well known by the Chinese for thousands of years but it was not until the Ming dynasty that it came under Chinese domination during which it was made a province. This prompted mass migration from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou.
Countless rebellions by its native Miao people occurred throughout the Qing dynasty. It was said in the Qing dynasty that every thirty years there would be minor revolts, while every sixty years there would be major rebellions. All the revolts would be violently suppressed by the government.

Geography

Guizhou adjoins Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality to the north, Yunnan Province to the west, Guangxi Province to the south and Hunan Province to the east. Overall Guizhou is a mountainous province however it is more hilly in the west while the eastern and southern portions are relatively flat. The western part of the province forms part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
Other cities include: Anshun, Kaili, Zunyi, Duyun, Liupanshui and Qingzhen.
Guizhou has a subtropical humid climate. There are few seasonal changes. Its annual average temperature is roughly 10 to 20°C, with January temperatures ranging from 1 to 10°C and July temperatures ranging from 17 to 28°C.

Administrative divisions

Main articles: List of administrative divisions of Guizhou

Economy

Guizhou is a relatively poor and undeveloped province. It also has a small economy compared to the coastal provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2004 was 159.2 billion yuan (19.75 billion USD). Its per capita GDP of 3568 RMB (470 USD) ranks last in all of the PRC.
Its natural industry includes timber and forestry. Other important industries in the province include energy (electricity generation) and mining, especially in coal, limestone, arsenic, gypsum, and oil shale. Guizhou's total output of coal was 110 million tons in 2005, a 12% growth from the previous year. [1]

Demographics

Guizhou is one of the provinces that contains the most minority groups. The minority groups account for more than 37% of the total population and they include Yao, Miao, Yi, Qiang, Dong, Zhuang, Buyi, Bai, Tujia, Gelao and Shui. 55.5% of the province area is designated as autonomous regions for them. Guizhou is the province with highest TFR in China with 2.19. (Urban-1.31, Rural-2.42) [2]

Culture

Guizhou is the home of the Moutai Distillery, distillers of Maotai liquor, China's most famous alcoholic beverage. The Chinese name of the distillery is Zhongguo Guizhou Maotai Jiuchang.

Tourism

The province has many covered bridges, called ''Wind and Rain Bridges''. These were built by the Dong minority people.
The southeastern corner of the province is known for its unique Dong minority culture. Towns such as Rongjiang, Liping, Diping and Zhaoxing are scattered amongst the hills along the border with Guangxi.
The rich population of minorities in Guizhou allow for a great many ethnic festivals throughout the lunar calendar. During the first lunar month (usually February), the early festival in Kaili (east of Guiyang) celebrates local culture with acts of bullfighting, horse racing, pipe playing, and comedy works.

Miscellaneous topics

Colleges and universities

★ Guizhou University (Guiyang)
Guizhou Normal University (Guiyang);
Zunyi Medical College (Zunyi);
Guiyang Medical University (Guiyang);
Guizhou University for Nationalities (Guiyang);
Guizhou College of Finace and Economics (Guiyang);
Commercial College of Guizhou (Guiyang);
Bijie University;
Anshun Vocational and Technology College (Anshun)

Communications

Guizhou Daily

External links

★ Guizhou's Provincial Government (Chinese)

★ Large map of Guizhou

★ Guizhou Moutai