Liuzhou: The Best Destination for Industrial Tourism

Chen Zhiying

Liuzhou， also known as the Dragon City or the Pot City， is one of Chinese historical and cultural cities and also an important industrial city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Abundant in cultural relics and tourist resources， it has features including verdant mountains， crystal water， bizarre caves， marvelous stones， dense forests and thick grass. “Rare Stone” is another feature of Liuzhou. Rich in bizarre stones， Liuzhou has gained the reputation of “the bizarre stones in Liuzhou are the best in the world”. In addition to the colorful natural and cultural scenery， Liuzhou takes the lead in the industry and serves as the largest industrial base in Guangxi.

As the industrial center in Guangxi， Liuzhou has undergone a long period of industrial development in history. As early as the end of the Qing Dynasty （1636-1912）， Liuzhou has already boasted quite developed traditional handicraft industry and modern machine manufacturing industry. The city became the industrial center of Guangxi in the 1930s and gained national influence in automobile， machinery， chemical industry and metallurgy in the 1950s. Liuzhou Industrial Museum， located in the center of the city， vividly unfolds such a brilliant history in front of tourists who visit here. The museum is mainly composed of three theme pavilions and an outdoor exhibition area， namely Liuzhou Industrial History Pavilion， Liuzhou Enterprise Style Pavilion and Liuzhou Ecological Livable Pavilion. Liuzhou Industrial History Pavilion displays the development process of Liuzhou industry from weak to strong in more than 100 years， embodying “Liuzhou spirits” of hard working and independent innovation， while Liuzhou Enterprise Style Pavilion demonstrates the industrial strength of Liuzhou today and the style of Liuzhou backbone enterprises. And Liuzhou Ecological Livable Pavilion shows the comprehensive management and reconstruction of Liuzhou in the past 30 years， under the condition of rapid industrial development and serious environmental damage.

In the museum， every exhibit witnesses and records changes in Liuzhous industry of hundreds of years and industrial achievements have been made during the long period， thus being able to better tell the history of Liuzhou industrial development to people. Here， you can not only fully understand this industrial city， but also witness the process of industrialization and urbanization in Guangxi and even China from the industrial heritage of Liuzhou. Most importantly， the industrial culture brimming in the museum reflects the sweat， hardship， wisdom and dedication of Liuzhou people. And thats the most valuable part one can gain in the trip to Liuzhou..

1. The opening time of Liuzhou Industrial Museum is from 9 am to 4：30 pm， and it is closed on Mondays.

2. You can take No. 12 or No. 59 bus and get off at the “Industrial Museum” stop. Then， walk 200 meters to reach the destination.

3. You can take a tour inside the museum first. When the sun is not so hot in the afternoon， you can come out， but pay attention to mosquitoes and sun protection.

Besides Liuzhou Industrial Museum mentioned above， there are also other museums you can visit to know more about the industrial city， such as Liuzhou Wuling Motors Museum， Liuzhou Toothpaste Museum， and Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group Exhibition Hall. In Liuzhou Wuling Motors Museum， you can have a look at the first plane invented in Guangxi called “Zhu Rongzhang”. There is a story behind the name of this plane. In 1931， Liuzhou Machinery Factory changed its name to Guangxi Machinery Factory and began to manufacture and assemble aircraft and rifles， bombs， grenades， and so on. In the spring of 1937， Zhu Rongzhang， an engineer who worked at Boeing in the United States， used a 750-horsepower aircraft engine in the warehouse to assemble and manufacture a single-seat expulsion fighter. After the successful flight test， Guilins general Bai Chongzhen named it “Zhu Rongzhang”.  Thats the reason why the plane gains this name. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War， “Zhu Rongzhang” was mass-produced and repeatedly made great achievements in the air battle against the Japanese. In addition to the first plane， you can also see the first car powered by charcoal in the museum. The charcoal car in the hall also has a great background. In December 1933， Liu Ji modified two charcoal engines with the developed gas generator， assembled a car fueled by charcoal with one of them， and drove it to Nanning for the public to visit. The birth of charcoal cars has created a history of producing cars in Guangxi. The exhibition hall also presents with more than ten generations of the generators of Wuling Motors， showing the companys attitude towards excellence.

Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group Exhibition Hall is the biggest enterprise exhibition hall in Guangxi， with a total area of more than 1，400 square kilometers. It has collected more than 200 objects such as film projectors， production tools， etc. Each old object has a story， which demonstrates the development of the iron and steel industry in the city and the changes of life and work of Liuzhou people. In the beginning， Liuzhou pays more attention to heavy industry， but later shifts its focus to light industry in order to balance development. When it comes to light industry， LMZ toothpaste is indispensable. Walking into Liuzhou Toothpaste Museum， what come into your sight first are a blender， a grinder， and a filling machine of light yellow color， which constitute the process of toothpaste manufacturing and production in the early times of the city. At that time， it was time-consuming and labor-intensive to produce toothpaste because of the limitation of technology. Today， in the toothpaste production workshop next to the toothpaste museum， the machine produced LMZ toothpaste has been upgraded to the third generation， which is one of the most advanced equipments for toothpaste production in China. The huge machine can produce 5 tons of toothpaste at a time. A production line needs at most 3 people， which fully demonstrates intelligence and high efficiency.

Walking through the historical corridor of Liuzhou industrial development and visiting industrial models one by one， you can feel obviously that heavy industry and light industry in Liuzhou have developed from backward to advanced， which shows the sweat， determination and hard work that former generations have devoted to the industry. Achievements thus made in the past lay a good foundation for modern industrial development in the city.

Today， Liuzhou Wuling Motors， LMZ toothpaste， Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group， and other enterprises not only represent the most advanced technology and the most famous brands with great influence in Liuzhou， but also become well-known at home and abroad. The old and traditional brands irradiate with new vitality in modern times.

Liuzhou is Chinas first batch of industrial cities. Liuzhous industry not only changes peoples daily life and work of the city itself at that time， but also drives the economic development of China. The Chinese finally have their own industrial products， free their hands and liberate the labor force.

Besides Liuzhou Industrial Museum mentioned above， there are also other museums you can visit to know more about the industrial city， such as Liuzhou Wuling Motors Museum， Liuzhou Toothpaste Museum， and Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group Exhibition Hall.