Kwang-Si

Kwang-Si, a southern province of China, bounded N. by Kwei-chow and Hu-nan, E. and S. by Kwang-tung, S.W. and W. by French Indo-Chino and Yun-nan. It covers an area of 80,000 sq. m. It is the least populous province of China, its inhabitants numbering (1908) little over 5,000,000. The Skias, an aboriginal race, form two-thirds of the population. The provincial capital is Kwei-lin Fu, or City of the Forest of Cinnamon Trees, and there are besides ten prefectural cities. The province is largely mountainous. The principal rivers are the Si-kiang and the Kwei-kiang, or Cinnamon River, which takes its rise in the district of Hing-gan, in the north of the province, and in the neighbourhood of that of the Siang river, which flows northward through Hu-nan to the Tung-t‘ing Lake. The Kwei-kiang, on the other hand, takes a southerly course, and passes the cities of Kwei-lin, Yang-so Hien, P‘ing-lē Fu, Chao-p’ing Hien, and so finds its way to Wu-chow Fu, where it joins the waters of the Si-kiang. Another considerable river is the Liu-kiang, or Willow River, which rises in the mountains inhabited by the Miao-tsze, in Kwei-chow. Leaving its source it takes a south-easterly direction, and enters Kwang-si, in the district of Hwai-yuen. After encircling the city of that name, it flows south as far as Liu-ch’ēng Hien, where it forms a junction with the Lung-kiang, or Dragon River. Adopting the trend of this last-named stream, which has its head-waters in Kwei-chow, the mingled flow passes eastward, and farther on in a south-easterly direction, by Lai-chow Fu, Wu-suan Hien, and Sin-chow Fu, where it receives the waters of the Si-kiang, and thenceforth changes its name for that of its affluent. The treaty ports in Kwang-si are Wu-chow Fu, Lung-chow and Nanning Fu.