Get to know Yizhou District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Hechi
- Chinese name
- 宜州区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 3,869.00 km²
- Population · 2004
- 610,000
- Administrative seat
- Qingyuan
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
History
The area was long Yishan County (宜山县); it became the county-level city of Yizhou in 1993 and a district of Hechi in 2016. Guangxi Daily names the Northern Song chancellor Feng Jing (冯京) as a native, and notes that the poet Huang Tingjian (黄庭坚) and the traveller Xu Xiake (徐霞客) both spent time here. During the war against Japan, when Zhejiang University moved west, Zhu Kezhen (竺可桢) and many other scholars stayed in Yizhou.
On Huixian Mountain (会仙山) north of the town, cliff inscriptions dating from the Song dynasty to the Republican era were listed as a Guangxi protected site in 1994 and as a national key cultural relics protection site in 2013.
What to see
The Xiajian River (下枧河), also called the Linjiang River, is a tributary of the Long River and was the main outdoor location for the film Liu Sanjie. In 2017 it was the only Guangxi river voted a "most beautiful home river" in a contest run by the Ministry of Water Resources' publicity centre.
Liu Sanjie's Home scenic area (刘三姐故里景区), a national AAAA site, lies where the Xiajian meets the Long River. Boats run along both rivers to Liuhe village (流河寨). There visitors find a reconstructed house of Liu Sanjie, daily caidiao (彩调) folk opera and folk songs at the song stage, and century-old longan trees known as "betrothal trees", where legend says Liu Sanjie and her sweetheart A Niu pledged themselves to each other. The scenic area has hosted the Liu Sanjie Cultural Tourism Festival since 2010.
Songs and local produce
Liu Sanjie ballads (刘三姐歌谣) were placed on the first national intangible heritage list in 2006, nominated by Yizhou. The list groups them into seven kinds, from work and love songs to riddle songs and ancient creation songs. At the scenic area, visitors who answer a Zhuang song correctly are given five-colour glutinous rice (五色糯米饭). A deputy head of Liusanjie town (刘三姐镇) told Guangxi Daily that the Xiajian valley grows mulberry for silkworms and is a national base for commercial grain and sugarcane.
Getting oriented
Yizhou borders Liucheng (柳城) and Liujiang (柳江) to the east, Xincheng (忻城) and Du'an (都安) to the south, Jinchengjiang (金城江区) and Huanjiang (环江) to the west, and Luocheng (罗城) to the north. The Guizhou-Guangxi Railway (黔桂铁路) and the Shantou-Kunming Expressway (汕昆高速) cross the district, which is also home to Hechi University (河池学院).
Highlights
- Liu Sanjie's Home scenic area 刘三姐故里景区: National AAAA scenic area at the confluence of the Xiajian and Long rivers, with Liuhe village and its betrothal trees.
- Xiajian River 下枧河: Long River tributary and main outdoor location of the film Liu Sanjie.
- Huixian Mountain cliff inscriptions 会仙山摩崖石刻: Song to Republican-era inscriptions north of the town; national key protected site since 2013.
- Liu Sanjie ballads 刘三姐歌谣: On the first national intangible heritage list (2006), nominated by Yizhou.
Sources for this guide
三姐门前那条河 - 新华网（来源：广西日报） · Guangxi Daily, republished by Xinhua
踏歌山水间 寻梦刘三姐——广西河池刘三姐故里景区打造活态文化体验新高地 - 中国日报网 · China Daily (chinadaily.com.cn)
宜州区 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
刘三姐歌谣 - 中国非物质文化遗产网·中国非物质文化遗产数字博物馆 · China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
会仙山摩崖石刻 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-24.
Explore Yizhou District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Yizhou District
Xiajian River · Plan your visit
Getting there
Yizhou District is about 55 km in a straight line from central Hechi. Search for 宜州区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Start with Xiajian River. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Hechi →More in Hechi
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 宜州区 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 会仙山摩崖石刻 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Xiajian River · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.