Today’s ancient administrative centre in Hezhou, Linhe, became a county seat in 111 BCE and remained a seat of local government until 1952, and today the city grinds marble into about 20 million tonnes of heavy calcium powder a year.
位于今贺州的临贺,公元前一一一年设县,此后长期作为地方行政治所,直至一九五二年;如今这座城市每年把大理石磨成约二千万吨重质碳酸钙粉体。
Under Qin the area belonged to Nanhai Commandery, and the Han set up Linhe after conquering the Nanyue kingdom in 111 BCE. In 226 CE Wu made it a commandery of its own, and in 589 CE the Sui made it Hezhou.
秦代这里属南海郡,汉朝公元前一一一年灭南越国后设临贺县;公元二二六年孙吴分设临贺郡,公元五八九年隋朝改置贺州。
Hezhou belonged to the Guangdong circuit in the early Song, until it was moved to Guangxi in 1108, and the Ming reduced it to a county in 1377. The prefecture-level city was set up in 2002.
宋初贺州属广南东路,一一零八年改隶广南西路,明朝一三七七年降为县;地级贺州市二零零二年设立。
Linhe, a Han Town on the Old Road
古道上的汉城临贺
Linhe was one of six county seats the Han placed within 200 kilometres along the Xiao–He road, and it was the junction of many of that road’s land and water routes, according to a Sina blog on the road. It was a seat of commandery, prefecture or county from 111 BCE until 1952, according to the Guangxi small-town database.
据新浪博客对潇贺古道的介绍,汉朝在这条古道上不足二百公里的范围内设了六个县治,临贺是古道多条水陆路线的交汇点。据广西特色小镇数据库介绍,从公元前一一一年到一九五二年,临贺先后是郡、州或县的治所。
Linhe is the only intact one of Guangxi’s four Western Han city sites, according to Bytravel. The better-preserved western city had a rammed-earth wall more than 4,000 metres round and 6 to 7 metres high, begun in 25 CE, and the site was listed as a national protected site in June 2001, according to Baidu Baike.
据旅游网站介绍,临贺是广西已发现的西汉四大城址中唯一保存完好的古城。据百度百科介绍,保存较好的河西古城,夯土城垣周长四千多米、高六至七米,始建于公元二十五年,二零零一年六月被列为全国重点文物保护单位。
Huangyao, an ancient town of nearly 1,000 years, became a 5A scenic area in July 2022 and keeps more than 300 Ming and Qing buildings and eight stone-paved streets, according to Baidu Baike.
据百度百科介绍,有近千年历史的黄姚古镇二零二二年七月成为国家五A级旅游景区,保存有三百多幢明清古建筑和八条石板街。
Marble, Timber and Cattle
大理石、木材与牛
Hezhou’s marble reserves are 2.6 billion cubic metres, about an eighth of China’s, and its white marble is compared with Italy’s Carrara, according to China News Service. The city makes more than 21 million tonnes of heavy calcium powder and about 70 million square metres of artificial granite a year, with 593 firms and ¥35 billion of output, according to China Daily.
据中新网报道,贺州大理石探明储量二十六亿立方米,约占全国的八分之一,当地白色大理石可与意大利卡拉拉相媲美。据中国日报网报道,全市每年生产重质碳酸钙粉体二千一百多万吨、人造岗石约七千万平方米,有全产业链企业五百九十三家,综合产值三百五十亿元。
In 2023, the city’s larger industrial enterprises, those above the official size threshold, produced 18.48 million tonnes of heavy calcium powder, up 7.7 percent, according to its statistical communiqué. A microwave curing machine built there cut the setting time of artificial marble from about 15 days to under an hour, according to China News Service.
据贺州市二零二三年统计公报,二零二三年规模以上工业企业生产重质碳酸钙粉体一千八百四十七万九千吨,增长百分之七点七。据中新网报道,当地研制的微波固化装置把人造大理石的固化时间从约十五天缩短到一小时以内。
Forest cover was 69.81 percent in 2025, with 79.87 million cubic metres of standing timber, and 3.55 million cubic metres were felled, up 13.6 percent, according to the city’s 2025 communiqué. Orchards covered 965,700 mu, and output included 4,200 tonnes of beef and 28,700 tonnes of milk, up 19.6 percent, according to the same source.
据贺州市二零二五年统计公报,二零二五年全市森林覆盖率为百分之六十九点八一,森林蓄积量七千九百八十七万立方米,木材采伐三百五十五点一八万立方米,增长百分之十三点六;果园面积九十六万五千七百亩,牛肉产量四千二百吨,牛奶产量二点八七万吨,增长百分之十九点六。
People and Trains
人口与列车
According to the 2025 communiqué, GDP reached ¥100.67 billion, up 5.3 percent, with farming at 19.3 percent of output, the secondary sector at 34.8 percent and services at 45.9 percent. The resident population was 1.9863 million at the end of 2025, down 2,900, with 17,900 births and 17,700 deaths.
据二零二五年统计公报,全年生产总值一千零六点七四亿元,增长百分之五点三,第一产业占百分之十九点三,第二产业占百分之三十四点八,第三产业占百分之四十五点九;二零二五年末常住人口一百九十八点六三万人,比上年末减少零点二九万人,全年出生一点七九万人、死亡一点七七万人。
Hezhou station, on the Guiyang–Guangzhou high-speed line, is one hour 16 minutes from Guangzhou South at the fastest, according to Ctrip timetables.
据携程时刻表,贺州站位于贵广高铁沿线,到广州南最快一小时十六分钟。
On the west bank of the Hejiang stands the better-preserved western section of ancient Linhe, whose rammed-earth walls once extended more than 4,000 metres, according to Baidu Baike.
据百度百科介绍,贺江西岸保存着临贺故城较完整的西城遗址,其夯土城垣当年周长超过四千米。
