Elephants are everywhere in the streets of the capital Guangxi (or Quancim in the Portuguese way). In statues, as an ornament for public lighting or other elements of urban furniture. However, ivory and bone proboscis only in the zoo. It is in the neighboring province of Yunnan, to the west, where the last specimens live in the wild in China. It matters little: it is a symbol of good luck, thanks to a legend in which the first emperor of the Qin dynasty is told in a dream how to prevent flooding in southern China: to do so, he had to collect five elephants in Yong (the name of Nanning up to the 14th century, as well as the river that meanders through the town).
It is not known whether it appeared in the dreams of a leader of the Chinese Communist Party, but what is certain is that about two decades ago, Nanning was seen not only as the capital of the Zhuang Minority Autonomous Region, but also as a future center of logistics and communications between the rest of the country and Southeast Asia and later an essential part of the One Belt, One Road strategy.
We are in a metropolis of more than seven million people, but in the new Wuxiang financial district, calm is the word that comes to mind. With the mix of high temperature and humidity typical of the subtropical region making any outdoor activity a challenge, silences interrupt the works of future skyscrapers, while others pile up half-occupied or empty, waiting for better days.
According to the classification of place specialized Skyscrapercenter, Nanning is the 18th highest city in the world, that is, with more buildings at least 150 meters high. The wide streets teem with all kinds of two-wheelers that share the sonic discretion that is characteristic of trams.
The night may not even bring relief to the weather conditions, but it is the most popular time to visit the ancient city; Xingning, Minsheng and Jiefang and the Golden Lion and the Silver Lion form the three streets and two alleys where locals and tourists wander and eat, but also visit shops.
Gastronomy is a calling card, as regional dishes are accompanied by Vietnamese and Cantonese cuisine. And for those looking for a change of scenery, there’s no shortage of bars in other parts of the city.
Nanning, whose name means “Pacified South,” is home to the Zhuang ethnic group, as well as more than 30 others who speak Zhuang, Cantonese, and Mandarin. For Beijing, this is a positive example of inter-ethnic and religious harmony, unlike, for example, Xinjiang, the northwestern region where the regime is responsible for “serious human rights violations” against Uyghurs, according to the report by former UN High Commissioner Michael Bachelet.
The capital of Guangxi is also known as the “green city” thanks to the typical trees and lush vegetation of the region, which counterbalance the cold construction at height, not only in the streets and parks, but also on the overpasses laden with vines, or on the mountain (actually a hill) Qingxiu. At the top there is a pagoda and from there you can contemplate the scenery. The most interesting natural landscapes are, as expected, not found in the city. The Jiulong Falls, to the west, and Detian, to the east, on the border with Vietnam – the largest in Asia – are examples of exceptional landscapes, as is Guilin, to the north and beyond.
400 billion is the investment in Chinese currency, or 50.5 billion euros, in the plan of works in infrastructure, communication routes and transportation, until 2025, to make Nanning a logistics platform.
The three ports of the region are also relatively far away, more than a hundred kilometers away. They are part of the Beibu Pan-Gulf Economic Zone, an economic corridor created with six other countries in 2006 and later reunited under the same authority, Port of the Beibu Gulf, headquartered in Nanning.
The growth of China’s trade with ASEAN was 15 percent in 2022, for a total of 866 billion euros.
The city is gaining importance as it is seen as indispensable to the supply chain and in this sense a five-year plan is being implemented to be completed by 2025 that will elevate the city to the national logistics platform. The investment, which amounts to more than 50 billion euros, includes the construction of railways, highways, logistics and storage parks so that the city receives 12 million tonnes in 2020 instead of one million.
This strategic commitment goes beyond the previously mentioned economic zone and aims to first achieve the Association of Ten Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and then the New Maritime Silk Road. ASEAN is considered a priority in its neighborhood policy and is now China’s largest trading partner. It is no coincidence that Nanning is home to the China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Summit. In addition, an even broader free trade agreement has entered into force since the beginning of last year, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
DN journalists traveled at the invitation of the Chinese embassy.
Source: DN
