Yongzhou, today’s Nanning, held out for 42 days in 1076 against an army of Vietnam’s Lý dynasty; its governor Su Jian died by fire with his family, and more than 50,000 people were reportedly killed after the city fell.
邕州即今天的南宁,一零七六年抵抗越南李朝军队围攻四十二天;知州苏缄与家人一同自焚,城破后据史书记载有五万多人被杀。
The city has been called Nanning, meaning peace in the southern frontier, since 1324; before that it was Yongzhou, a Tang name from 632 that survives in its abbreviation, Yong.
这座城市自一三二四年起称南宁,意为”南疆安宁”;在此之前它叫邕州,这是六三二年唐朝所起的名字,今天仍留在它的简称”邕”里。
Nanning became the Guangxi provincial capital in 1912, lost that role to Guilin in 1936 and was designated the capital of the new provincial government in 1950; in 1958 it became the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
南宁一九一二年成为广西省会,一九三六年省政府迁往桂林,一九五零年被确定为新广西省人民政府驻地;一九五八年成为广西壮族自治区首府。
Forty-Two Days
四十二天
According to the Nanning gazetteer, the Lý army invaded in the autumn of 1075 and took Qin and Lian prefectures first, then besieged Yongzhou for 42 days with about 80,000 men. The city fell on 1 March 1076, and the gazetteer, citing the Song History, reports more than 58,000 soldiers and civilians killed. Its regular garrison was about 2,800 men, according to Chinese Wikipedia.
据《南宁市志》记载,李朝军队一零七五年秋入侵,先攻陷钦州、廉州,随后以约八万人围攻邕州城四十二天。城于一零七六年三月一日被攻破,该志引用《宋史》,称军民被杀五万八千余人。据中文维基百科介绍,城中正规军只有二千八百余人。
The Song History records the dead stacked in heaps of a hundred, more than 580 heaps in all, with the city’s people drinking foul water in the siege, and says that no one defected, according to Chinese Wikipedia.
据中文维基百科引述,《宋史》记载,死者以百人为一积,共有五百八十余积,城中军民围城时靠饮用浊水度日,却没有一个人叛降。
Su Jian was later made the city’s god, and a stone pavilion behind the City God Temple on the Xingning Road pedestrian street marks the spot where he died, according to NetEase.
据网易报道,苏缄后来被奉为南宁的城隍,兴宁路步行街城隍庙后墙外有一座石亭,标出他殉难的地方。
A Green City on the Tropic
北回归线边的绿城
Nanning lies south of the Tropic of Cancer, between latitudes 22°12′ and 24°02′ north, and is known as the Green City, according to Baidu Baike. Green space covers 38.3 percent of its built-up area and tree and plant cover 43.1 percent, with 15.16 square metres of park per resident, according to its 2024 statistical communiqué.
据百度百科介绍,南宁位于北回归线以南,北纬二十二度十二分至二十四度零二分之间,别称”绿城”。据南宁市二零二四年统计公报,建成区绿地率为百分之三十八点三,绿化覆盖率为百分之四十三点一,城区人均公园绿地面积十五点一六平方米。
The city has 63 mineral species, but its strengths are cement limestone, building-stone limestone and brick shale, while metals such as iron and manganese and energy minerals such as coal are scarce, according to Baidu Baike. Guangxi as a whole has 145 minerals, and it is known as the home of nonferrous metals, according to the region’s natural resources department.
据百度百科介绍,南宁已发现矿产六十三种,相对优势在于水泥用石灰岩、建筑石料用灰岩和砖瓦用页岩,铁、锰等金属矿产和煤炭等能源矿产则较为匮乏。据广西壮族自治区自然资源厅介绍,全区已发现矿产一百四十五种,素有”有色金属之乡”之称。
The Door to ASEAN
通向东盟的门
The first China–ASEAN Expo opened in Nanning on 3 November 2004, with about 50,000 square metres of exhibition space and 1,505 exhibitors; by 2024 it had nearly 200,000 square metres and more than 3,000 exhibitors, according to Xinhua.
据新华社报道,首届中国—东盟博览会二零零四年十一月三日在南宁开幕,展览面积约五万平方米,参展企业一千五百零五家;到二零二四年,展览面积增至近二十万平方米,参展企业超过三千家。
According to Nanning’s 2025 statistical communiqué, GDP reached ¥621.25 billion, up 4.7 percent, with services at 70.1 percent. Trade in goods was ¥104.44 billion, up 12.4 percent, of which ¥32.07 billion was with ASEAN, up 15.4 percent, and the city recorded 197.48 million tourist visits, up 12.0 percent, with ¥221.59 billion in spending.
据南宁市二零二五年统计公报,全年生产总值六千二百一十二点四六亿元,增长百分之四点七,第三产业占百分之七十点一。货物进出口总值一千零四十四点三七亿元,增长百分之十二点四,其中对东盟进出口三百二十点六六亿元,增长百分之十五点四;全年接待游客一亿九千七百四十七万六千人次,增长百分之十二点零,游客总花费二千二百一十五点九四亿元。
The resident population was 9.0166 million at the end of 2025, up 44,700, according to the same communiqué. The natural growth rate was −0.49 per thousand, with a birth rate of 6.59 per thousand and a death rate of 7.08 per thousand, and the 2020 census counted 8,741,584.
据同一份公报,二零二五年末常住人口九百零一点六六万人,比上年末增加四点四七万人;常住人口自然增长率为千分之负零点四九,出生率千分之六点五九,死亡率千分之七点零八。二零二零年人口普查时为八百七十四万一千五百八十四人。
The Nanning–Pingxiang high-speed line opened in full on 5 December 2025, running 201 kilometres at 250 kilometres an hour, and the fastest trains take 1 hour 15 minutes to the Vietnamese border city, according to China Railway. Pingxiang borders Lạng Sơn, from where Vietnam plans a standard-gauge line to Hanoi, according to China Net.
据中国铁路报道,南宁至凭祥高铁二零二五年十二月五日全线贯通运营,全长二百零一公里,时速二百五十公里,到中越边境城市凭祥最快一小时十五分钟。据中国网报道,凭祥与越南谅山接壤,越南正在规划建设谅山至河内的标准轨铁路。
The Nanning International Convention Centre, where the Expo is held, was built in the shape of the hibiscus, the city’s flower, according to Xinhua.
据新华社报道,举办东博会的南宁国际会展中心,以市花朱槿花为造型建成。
