Guangxi received Qinzhou from Guangdong in 1952, returned it in 1955 and took it back in 1965; the port now handles 226 million tonnes a year, and its oyster beds supply 70 percent of China’s oyster seed.
广西一九五二年从广东接收钦州,一九五五年归还,一九六五年又收回;如今钦州港每年吞吐货物二点二六亿吨,当地蚝场供应全国百分之七十的蚝苗。
Qinzhou lies at the head of the Beibu Gulf, the Gulf of Tonkin, and takes its name from the Qin River. It became a prefecture-level city in 1994.
钦州位于北部湾顶端,得名于钦江,一九九四年设为地级市。
It is the hometown of Liu Yongfu and Feng Zicai, who fought the French in the 1880s.
这里是刘永福和冯子材的故乡,两人在十九世纪八十年代抗击法军。
Guangdong, Guangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi
广东、广西、广东、广西
The four counties of Qin, Hepu, Lingshan and Fangcheng, the old Lianzhou prefecture, belonged to Guangdong under the Ming and Qing, according to Baidu Baike. Guangdong entrusted them to Guangxi in 1951, and the transfer became formal on 8 March 1952, according to Chinese Wikipedia.
据百度百科介绍,钦县、合浦、灵山、防城四县,即旧廉州府,明清时期属广东。据中文维基百科介绍,一九五一年广东委托广西代管,一九五二年三月八日正式划归广西。
Huaiji County, farther inland, was also transferred from Guangxi to Guangdong during the same period, according to Zhihu. On 1 July 1955 the State Council returned Qinzhou to Guangdong, to strengthen South China Sea defence and fisheries management, according to Baidu Baike.
据知乎介绍,在同一时期,位于内陆的怀集县也由广西划归广东。据百度百科介绍,一九五五年七月一日国务院把钦州划回广东,以加强南海国防和渔业管理。
It came back to Guangxi on 26 June 1965, partly to help Vietnam in the war against the United States, according to Baidu Baike.
据百度百科介绍,一九六五年六月二十六日钦州再度划归广西,原因之一是便于援越抗美。
Oysters, Turtles and Clay
大蚝、乌龟与泥土
Qinzhou’s ports handled 226 million tonnes in 2025, up 8.7 percent, of which 78 million tonnes were foreign-trade cargo, and 7.46 million standard containers, up 7.2 percent, according to the 2025 statistical communiqué.
据二零二五年统计公报,钦州港口全年完成货物吞吐量二点二六亿吨,增长百分之八点七,其中外贸货物七千八百万吨;集装箱吞吐量七百四十六万标准箱,增长百分之七点二。
Oyster beds cover 128,000 mu, and output was expected to pass 330,000 tonnes and ¥4 billion in 2025, according to the city’s 2025 oyster-festival briefing. The Maowei Sea supplies 70 percent of China’s oyster seed, according to the city’s agriculture bureau, and the Qinzhou Oyster Festival has been held every year since 2012, according to the Guangxi intellectual property office.
据钦州市二零二五年蚝情节新闻发布会介绍,全市大蚝养殖面积十二点八万亩,预计二零二五年产量突破三十三万吨、产值超过四十亿元。据钦州市农业农村局介绍,茅尾海供应全国百分之七十的蚝苗。据广西知识产权局介绍,钦州自二零一二年起每年举办”中国钦州蚝情节”。
In 2014 more than 22,000 Qinzhou households raised turtles, keeping over 4 million animals worth nearly ¥2 billion a year, and the city has 18 wild turtle and terrapin species, according to the Guangxi farming website. A two-year-old golden coin turtle could fetch tens of thousands of yuan, according to Xinhua.
据广西农牧网介绍,二零一四年钦州有两万二千多户养殖龟鳖,养殖数量四百多万只,年产值近二十亿元,全市有十八种野生龟鳖。据新华社介绍,一只两岁的金钱龟售价可达数万元。
Nixing pottery is made from clay on both banks of the Qin River, the soft east-bank clay and the hard west-bank clay mixed 4 to 6, and fired at about 1,200 degrees, and the fire turns it bronze, purple or iron-blue, according to China Culture Daily. The firing technique was listed as national intangible heritage in 2008, according to the Chinese intangible heritage website.
据《中国文化报》介绍,坭兴陶用钦江东西两岸的陶土制成,东岸软泥与西岸硬泥按四比六混合,在约一千二百摄氏度烧成,火焰会让它变出古铜、紫霞、铁青等色。据中国非物质文化遗产网介绍,其烧制技艺二零零八年列入国家级非物质文化遗产名录。
Rain and Rails
雨水与铁路
Qinzhou’s mean temperature is 22.2 degrees and it gets 2,150 millimetres of rain a year, two-thirds of it from May to August, according to Chinese Wikipedia citing meteorological data. The record low is minus 1.8 degrees on 12 January 1955, according to the same source.
据中文维基百科引述的气象资料,钦州年平均气温二十二点二摄氏度,年降水量二千一百五十毫米,三分之二集中在五月至八月;极端最低气温为一九五五年一月十二日的零下一点八摄氏度。
According to the 2025 communiqué, GDP reached ¥190.76 billion, up 4.7 percent, with farming at 20.6 percent of output, the secondary sector at 32.7 percent and services at 46.7 percent. The resident population was 3.3027 million at the end of 2025, down 29,500, with 25,500 births and 26,600 deaths.
据二零二五年统计公报,全年生产总值一千九百零七点六一亿元,增长百分之四点七,第一产业占百分之二十点六,第二产业占百分之三十二点七,第三产业占百分之四十六点七;二零二五年末常住人口三百三十点二七万人,比上年末减少二点九五万人,全年出生二点五五万人、死亡二点六六万人。
From Qinzhou East station the fastest high-speed trains take 35 minutes to Nanning East, according to Ctrip timetables.
据携程时刻表,从钦州东站乘高铁到南宁东最快三十五分钟。
More than 190 Chinese white dolphins live off Sanniang Bay in Qinzhou, according to Guangxi News in 2017.
据广西新闻网二零一七年报道,钦州三娘湾海域栖居着一百九十多只中华白海豚。
