Wanxiu District 万秀区

History

In 111 BC the Han set up Cangwu commandery (苍梧郡) and Guangxin County (广信县) with their seat inside today's Wanxiu, which the district government describes as the seat of Lingnan (岭南), the lands south of the Nanling range. After Wuzhou was established in 621, the area served as the seat of each successive prefecture and county, and in 1470 a governor-general's office for Guangxi and Guangdong was set up here. The present district was formed on 8 February 2013 by merging the former Dieshan (蝶山区) and Wanxiu districts.

What to see

The Qilou Old Streets (骑楼城), the historical culture corridor and Longmu Temple (龙母庙) together form a national 4A scenic area; the district government dates Longmu Temple to the Song, and the temple is an autonomous-region protected site. Zhongshan Park (中山公园), Wuzhou's oldest park, was laid out on Beishan hill in 1924 after the old city wall came down. Its Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (中山纪念堂), completed in October 1930 and described by the district government as the first built in China, is a national key protected site. The park's Chenzhong Pavilion (晨钟亭) hangs a bronze bell cast by the Southern Han general Wu Huai'en (吴怀恩).

The Wuzhou modern buildings group (梧州近代建筑群), another national key protected site, includes the former customs house, the Standard Oil office, the British consulate, the post office and the Catholic church. Baiyun Mountain (白云山) in the northeast, 367 metres high, is the highest point in the urban area; its scenic area holds a camellia garden of more than 30 varieties, with the Sien Temple (四恩寺) to its south. The former offices of the Communist Party's Guangxi Special Committee (1926–1928) are also in the district.

Food

Wuzhou's Bingquan soy milk (冰泉豆浆), from a soy-milk house founded in 1935, is made from soaked soybeans ground with water, filtered several times and simmered slowly in an iron wok before sugar is added. Paper-wrapped chicken (纸包鸡) dates from the Qing. Guilinggao (龟苓膏), a herbal jelly made with tortoise plastron, poria, dandelion, honeysuckle and gardenia, is a Wuzhou tradition whose preparation technique joined the national intangible-heritage list in 2021.

Setting and landscape

The district backs onto hills and faces the rivers; the Tropic of Cancer passes through its east. The Gui River runs for 10 kilometres and the Xi for 13 kilometres within it, and the Xi is about 800 metres wide here.

Highlights

• Qilou Old Streets 骑楼城: Arcaded street quarter forming a national 4A scenic area with Longmu Temple.
• Longmu Temple 龙母庙: Temple dated by the district government to the Song; an autonomous-region protected site.
• Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 中山纪念堂: Completed in 1930 in Zhongshan Park; a national key protected site.
• Wuzhou modern buildings group 梧州近代建筑群: Customs house, Standard Oil office, British consulate, post office and Catholic church; a national key protected site.
• Guilinggao 龟苓膏: Herbal jelly whose Wuzhou preparation technique is national intangible heritage (2021).