Mountains of geese and waters of willows, a visit to the 'Commercial Port of Central Guangxi'

Liuzhou, also known as Pot City or Dragon City, has been a place where multiple ethnic groups have lived together since ancient times. The songs of the Zhuang people, the towers of the Dong people, the festivals of the Miao people, and the dances of the Yao people are called the 'Four Wonders of Ethnic Customs' of Liuzhou. During the Spring and Autumn period, the Baiyue people in the territory of Guangxi were divided into three tribes: the Xi'ou (north bank), the Luoyue (south bank), and the Cangwu. Liuzhou is known as the hometown of giant apes. The Liujiaoren fossils, which date back about 50,000 years, are the earliest fossils of early Homo sapiens and have the main characteristics of the Mongoloid race. The Liujiaoren are more primitive than the 'Shandingdong Man' and 'Ziyang Man', belonging to the late Paleolithic period. In the sixth year of Yuanding during the Western Han Dynasty (111 BC), the Western Han Dynasty established Tanzhong County (now Liuzhou), with its administrative center located at the foot of Jiahe Mountain. The highest achievement of Han Dynasty pottery art was the production of lead-glazed pottery. Most of the Han Dynasty pottery unearthed in the Liuzhou area belongs to hard pottery. The surface of hard pottery is often decorated with imprinted grid patterns and geometric shapes. Porcelain appeared in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, mainly celadon, with very little black porcelain. The fortresses of the Han Dynasty were a type of civilian defensive architecture, and some wealthy people would even raise militias within the fortresses to resist the invasion of refugees. Later, it evolved into the volunteer armies of the Southern Song Dynasty and the militia groups of the Qing Dynasty. Guangxi produced fierce soldiers, and the local generals were both fierce in battle and refined in culture! Bronze mirrors originated more than four thousand years ago during the Qijia cultural period. The Shang Dynasty began to manufacture bronze mirrors, and during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, bronze mirrors became quite popular. Until the end of the Ming Dynasty, glass began to be used for mirrors. By the Tang Dynasty, with the opening of the Gui-Liu Canal, Liuzhou became a transit station connecting the Central Plains region. The trend of lavish burials prevailed during the Tang Dynasty, and the use of tri-colored burial objects also rapidly developed.