Guangxi

Guangxi is officially Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China along its border with Vietnam. Formerly a province, Guangxi became an Zhuang autonomous region in 1958 because of its large Zhuang minority population. The province is located in Southwest China west of Guangdong Province (Canton) and also contains a significant coastline on the South China Sea, (Beibu Gulf). It shares many characteristics of its equally poorer sister to the north Guizhou due to its mainly rural nature and large minority populations. and The xi and dong suffixes mean west and east, respectively in the Chinese language.

Guangxi is a relatively poor but highly scenic area in southern China. Guangxi's location, in mountainous terrain in the far south of China, has placed it on the frontier of Chinese civilization throughout much of China's history. The current name "Guang" means "expanse" and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. It was given provincial level status during the Yuan Dynasty, but even into the 20th century it was considered an open, wild territory.

The abbreviation of Guangxi province is, which comes from the city of Guilin, the former capital, center of much of Guangxi's culture, politics, and history, and currently a major city in the autonomous region.