Liunan District 柳南区

Setting and landscape

The district covers about 541 square kilometres and borders Yufeng District to the east, Liujiang District to the south, Yizhou (宜州) in Hechi to the west and Liucheng County to the north. The land rises from east to west: the eastern subdistricts are undulating ground with a few isolated peaks, while the west, around Taiyangcun town (太阳村镇), is hills and peak-forest valleys. Wenbi Mountain (文笔山), 419 metres, is the second-highest peak in Liuzhou's urban area; its dolomite upper slopes rise steeply for more than 80 metres.

What to see

The old Liuzhou airfield, also called Maohe Airfield (帽合机场), lies around Maohe village in Nanhuan Subdistrict. The New Guangxi Clique built it in 1929 and it trained Guangxi's air force in the 1930s. During the war against Japan it was used by the Central Aviation School, Soviet volunteer airmen and the Flying Tigers, and Japanese forces bombed it 43 times and occupied it in 1944. Civil flights used it from 1986 until they moved to Bailian Airport in 1996. In 2013 it became part of a national key cultural relic protection unit together with Liuzhou's defence works; Chinese Wikipedia notes that its Flying Tigers remains are poorly preserved.

Autonomous-region protected sites in the district include the Tang-dynasty tomb of Liu Fen (刘蕡墓) in Wenbi village, a Republican-era ring of blockhouses on Zhanggongling (张公岭), and the Liu family compound (刘家大院) at Liangshui hamlet, built in 1892.

Food and local traditions

Liunan runs a luosifen production belt, and its Luosifen Town (螺蛳粉小镇) is a national AAAA tourist attraction. The district's listed intangible heritage includes Gaosha gongs and drums (高沙锣鼓), on the autonomous-region list, and the making of Luoman shuiyoudui (洛满水油堆), a Liuzhou municipal item.

Getting oriented

Besides Liuzhou high-speed railway station, the district contains the Xi'e railway logistics centre (西鹅铁路物流中心), the core of the Liuzhou Railway Port on the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. The construction-machinery maker Liugong (柳工) and SAIC-GM-Wuling are among the large firms based here.

Highlights

• Old Liuzhou airfield 柳州旧机场: Built in 1929 and used by the Flying Tigers; part of a national key unit since 2013.
• Wenbi Mountain 文笔山: 419-metre peak, the second highest in Liuzhou's urban area, with steep dolomite upper slopes.
• Luosifen Town 螺蛳粉小镇: National AAAA tourist attraction in the district that calls itself the birthplace of the luosifen industry.
• Liu family compound 刘家大院: 1892 compound at Liangshui hamlet, an autonomous-region protected site.