Chongzuo 崇左市

Setting and landscape

The Zuo rises on Kulong Mountain (枯隆山) on the Ningming–Vietnam border, enters China as the Ping'er River (平而河), becomes the Li River (丽江) at Longzhou (龙州) and takes the name Zuo after meeting its largest tributary, the Ming River (明江). It then runs past the city and Fusui (扶绥) to join the Youjiang (右江) near Nanning (南宁). Protected wildlife includes the white-headed langur (白头叶猴), found in Fusui, Jiangzhou (江州), Longzhou and Ningming (宁明), and the Nonggang babbler (弄岗穗鹛).

History

Under the Qin the area belonged to Xiang Commandery (象郡). Between 976 and 984 the Northern Song set up a Taiping stockade (太平寨) in today's Jiangzhou, forerunner of the later Taiping prefecture, whose wall of 1372 is a protected monument. Hereditary native chieftaincies were abolished in 1929. By 1952 Chongshan (崇善) and Zuo counties had been merged into Chongzuo County, its name joining their first characters; in December 2002 the State Council approved the prefecture-level city and renamed the county Jiangzhou District.

What to see

The Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (左江花山岩画文化景观), inscribed as World Heritage in 2016, groups 38 rock-art sites along 105 kilometres of river in Ningming, Longzhou, Jiangzhou and Fusui; the Huashan site in Ningming is a key part. Detian Waterfall (德天瀑布) in Daxin County (大新县) spans the border: the Guichun River (归春河), which marks the frontier for 14.5 kilometres, is split by Putang Island (浦汤岛) and drops over a cliff in three tiers. Friendship Pass (友谊关) in Pingxiang (凭祥) sits on the border line and dates back to the Han dynasty; as Zhennan Pass (镇南关) it saw Feng Zicai (冯子材) defeat the French in 1885 and Sun Yat-sen's uprising of 1907, and it took its present name in 1965.

Food and local products

The Zhuang make sour porridge (酸粥) in a sealed pottery jar, feeding it cold rice so that it ferments, and use it as a condiment for white-cut duck and raw fish; restaurants turn it into dishes such as sour-porridge lemon duck. Guanglang flour (桄榔粉), a starch washed out of the pith of the guanglang palm and made mainly in Longzhou, goes into cakes or is stirred with boiling water into a dessert or drink. Five-colour glutinous rice (五色糯米饭), dyed with plant juices, is made for Qingming and the Third of the Third festival (三月三).

Getting oriented

The Nanning–Friendship Pass expressway, opened in 2005, meets Vietnam's Highway 1 at the pass. The Hunan–Guangxi railway crosses the city, and the Nanning–Pingxiang high-speed line stops at Fusui South, Chongzuo South, Ningming East, Longzhou and Pingxiang East.

Highlights

• Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape 左江花山岩画文化景观: World Heritage since 2016; 38 rock-art sites along 105 km of river in Ningming, Longzhou, Jiangzhou and Fusui.
• Detian Waterfall 德天瀑布: Three-tier waterfall on the Guichun River in Daxin County, spanning the China–Vietnam border.
• Friendship Pass 友谊关: Border pass at Pingxiang first set up in the Han; known as Zhennan Pass from the early Ming and named Friendship Pass in 1965.
• Taiping prefectural wall 太平府垣: Wall of the Taiping prefecture in Jiangzhou, built in 1372; an autonomous-region key cultural relic.
• Guanglang flour 桄榔粉: Starch from the pith of the guanglang palm, made mainly in Longzhou County.