Liuzhou

Liuzhou (Liuchow) is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in southern China. It covers an area of  5,250 km² and has a population of 1.4 million. 

Geography
Liuzhou is located on the banks of the winding Liu River, approximately 255 km from Nanning, the provincial capital. Liuzhou is 3,535 kilometres from Beijing, 2,033 km from Shanghai and 727 km from Hong Kong. Swimming in the river is a tradition of the city. In summer, floods from the mountain areas upstream bring sediment which colors the water yellow.

History
Liuzhou has a history of more than 2,100 years. The city was founded in 111 B.C. when it was known as Tanzhong. In 742 A.D. it became known as Longcheng (Dragon City), before finally changing to Liuzhou in 1736. The most famous historic figure is Liu Zongyuan (773-819), who was a poet and politician in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 A. D.) and who died in Liuzhou. He is commemorated by a park in the city.

Tourist Attractions
 Liuzhou has many tourist attractions. The most famous are Liuhou Park (an Academy was built there for more than 100 years ago in honor of Liu zhongyuan), Liuzhou Zoo, Sparrow Mountain Park, Dragon Pool Park, Dule Park, Yufeng Peak (Fish Peak),  White Lotus Cave (local name: Bailian Dong, the cave is actually a rotolithic human site. Many things were dug up there including some human bone fossils, more than 3,500 animal fossils, over 500 stonewares, fire sites, pottery shards, stone adornments etc.) and so on. Usually, tourists who come to Lizhou seem to not very interested in these attractions but the minority villages in Rongshui, Rong'an and Sanjiang (Three counties under the jurisdiction of Liuzhou).