Liupanshui

Liupanshui is a city in western Guizhou province, People's Republic of China. The name Liupanshui combines the first character from the names of each of the city's three constituent counties: Liuzhi, Panzhou, Shuicheng. As a prefecture-level city with an area of 9,926 km2, Liupanshui had a total population of over 2,830,000 in 2006, making it the second largest in the province, though only 251,900 inhabitants were urban residents. The city is known locally as "The Cool City" or "Cool Capital" due to its low average summer temperature.

History
The general area is significant as the seat of the historic Yelang political entity, a confederation of tribes that dominated parts of modern-day Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The city was established in 1978 as a prefecture-level municipality.

Administrative divisions
Its administratively divided to the following county-level jurisdictions:
 * District
 * Zhongshan District (钟山区)
 * Shuicheng District (水城区)
 * Special District
 * Liuzhi Special District (六枝特区)
 * County-level city
 * Panzhou City (盘州市)

Ethnic groups
The Liupanshui City Ethnic Gazetteer (六盘水市志：民族志) (2003:139, 154, 160) lists the following ethnic groups and their respective locations.
 * Bai
 * Pan County (pop. 16,829): in Jiuying (旧营), Gaotun (高屯), Yangchangba (羊场坝), Luna (鲁那), Shahe (沙河)
 * Shuicheng County (pop. 6,711): in Longchang (龙场), Yingpan (营盘)
 * Gelao
 * Liuzhi Special District (pop. 8,128): in Langdai (郎岱), Xinhua (新华), Duoque (堕却)
 * Shuicheng County (pop. 1,862): in Fa'er (发耳), Longchang Miao, Bai, and Yi Ethnic Township (龙场), Yangmei Yi, Miao, and Hui Ethnic Township (杨梅), Miluo, Guizhou (米箩), Panlong, Guizhou (蟠龙)
 * Shui
 * Pan County (pop. 3,519): in Panguan (盘关)
 * Shuicheng County (pop. 4,211): in Fa'er

Rail
Liupanshui is a major rail hub in southwestern China. The Shanghai-Kunming, Liupanshui-Baiguo and Neijiang-Kunming Railways intersect in the city.

Air
The city is served by Liupanshui Yuezhao Airport.

Tourism
Tourism in Liupanshui focuses on minority folk culture and karst landform tourism. This includes the underground lake in Qilin Cave Park (麒麟公园), Danxia Mountain (丹霞山), about which Xu Xiake, the Chinese travel writer and geographer of the Ming Dynasty, had written. Yushe National Park (玉舍国家公园) includes the Jiucai Ping Scenic Zone (韭菜坪景区). The flat-topped Jiucai Ping is the tallest mountain in Guizhou Province at about 2900 meters. Jiucai here means "garlic chives," so named because the mountain is famous for its garlic chive blossoms. Other attractions include the sunrise, the sea of clouds, and unusual rock formations. Also notable is the Tiansheng Bridge (天生桥), "tiansheng" meaning "god-made." There is also a nature reserve called Shuicheng Francois's Leaf Monkey Nature Reserve (水城野钟黑叶猴自然保护区).

Cuisine
Local cuisine includes Yangrou fen (羊肉粉) - Lamb rice noodles, and Luoguo yangyu (烙锅洋芋) - Fried potatoes.

Twin towns — Sister cities
Liupanshui is twinned with:
 * 🇺🇸 Tucson, Arizona, United States