Guilin

Guilin, also Kuei-lin or Kweilin, city, southern China, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on the Li River. It is an important transportation hub and a small industrial center in a scenic karst region made famous by classical Chinese poets and painters. Economic activities include fishing, food processing, and the manufacture of fertilizer, rubber goods, textiles, machinery, and electronic equipment. Tungsten and tin are mined nearby.

Guilin was founded in 214 bc, and was an important center on the ancient Ling Canal (now an irrigation aqueduct) linking central and southern China. Called Lin-Gui during the Tang (T’ang) dynasty (ad 618-907), it was a provincial capital from Ming times (1368-1644) until 1914, and again during the period 1936-49. Guilin, which suffered heavy damage during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), was developed as an industrial center after 1949. Population (1991) 376,362.