Guiyang

Guiyang, 贵阳 in Mandarin and Guìyáng (when  written in pinyin), is the capital city of the province of Guizhou in the south west of China. I lived in this city for almost one year from September 2013 until July 2014.

​

The area of what is today Guiyang began as a military outpost in the 7th century and was then known as Juzhou 矩州. During the southwestern campaigns of the Mongolian Yuan dynasty from 1279 until 1283 it grew into a city called Shunyuan 順元. Guizhou became a province in 1413 and its capital city by then was also called Guizhou. Guiyang benefitted through rapidly expanding during the Japanese invasion of China from 1935 until 1945, with many industries relocating from other areas of occupation.

​

Climate and rainfall

Guiyang gets mild winters and moderate summers with average temperatures in January of 5.1C and a July average of 23.9C. There are some snow flurries in winter, but rainfall, and heavy rain can (and does) occur all year round. It is the wettest city I have experienced in China. It receives on average 1,118 millimetres of rain each year. It is also one of China’s least sunny cities, but good air quality, mild winds and low summer temperatures makes it one of the more desirable summer destinations.

 

Tourism in Guiyang

The city of Guiyang is shaped by its history and it is the large number of historical sites that attract the majority of visitors to the city. The Jiaxiu Tower and Pavilion 甲秀楼; Jiǎxiù Lóu can be found at the southern tip of the Nanming River in the South East of the city. It is one of the symbol’s of Guiyang and is featured on the city’s emblem, it is over 400 years old and dates from the Ming Dynasty. Another relic of the Ming Dynasty is Qingyan Ancient Town 青岩古镇; Qīyán Gǔzhèn it was originally built in 1378 and is known for its examples of beautiful ancient Chinese architecture. Xifeng Concentration Camp (息烽集中营; Xīfēng Jízhōngyín, was the largest and highest level of the prisons set up by the KMT government during the Anti- Japanese war in 1937. It was added to the list of major historical and cultural sites in 1988.

​

Qianling Park  黔灵公园; Qiánlín Gōngyuán, is to the north west of the city and gets its name from Mount Qianling, known as the most  majestic mountain in southern Guizhou province. The park has thick vegetation, old trees with over 1500 types of flowers and trees and more than 1000 types of medicinal herbs. The Hongfu Temple, built towards the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty is one of the most famous temples in Guizhou. Another attraction or inconvenience (depending on your viewpoint) to the park is the abundance of wild and freely roaming Macaque monkeys, they can (and on occasion do) attack people for the food they are carrying. The advice is to keep food well covered and not walk around eating, particularly when in close proximity to the monkeys.

 

Transportation in Guiyang

Urban Rail, Guiyang’s urban rail system has been under construction since 2011 and line 1 is due to open by the end of 2017, with an additional four lines in operation by 2020. Eventually it is expected to extend to nine lines with a total distance of 467 kilometres or 290 miles.