Country Peoples Republic of China Population 549,434 (2000) Area 3,869 km2 | Region Guangxi | |
Yizhou (Chinese: ; pinyin: ), formerly Yishan County (???), is a county-level city under the administration of Hechi City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Peoples Republic of China.
Map of Yizhou
Yizhou is located in the northwest of Guangxi on the Long River in an area noted for its magificant karst formations. The limestone karst formations dot the city and surrounding country and beautiful rivers cut through the landscape. The city of Yizhou has several hundred thousand inhabitants. The surrounding country side is home to a number of ethnic Zhuang villages. The economy is centered on sugar production. Located near Yizhou is a British-Chinese jointly run sugar processing plant. The country side surrounding Yizhou is similar in appearance to the tourist Mecca Yangshuo, located in the east of Guangxi. While Yizhou has a convenient tourist infrastructure, foreign tourists are sparse.
Perhaps the most famous invidivual in the history of Yizhou is the legendary Song Dynasty singer Liu Sanjie ???, renowned for her beautiful singing voice. The people of Yizhou believe that Liu was born there and a statue of her is in the city center.
In 2002 a riot struck the city. The Yizhou riots involved violence between the police and local farmers.
There are a Yishan Road and a Yishan light rail station in Shanghai named after the city.
On 26 August 2008 an explosion at a chemical plant killed 20 people and injured many more. 11,000 were evacuated from their homes.