Wikipedia
Yizhou , formerly Yishan County (宜山县), is a county-level city under the administration of Hechi City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
Yizhou is located in the northwest of Guangxi on the Long River in an area noted for its magificant karst formations. The limestone karst formations dot the city and surrounding country and beautiful rivers cut through the landscape. The city of Yizhou has several hundred thousand inhabitants. The surrounding countryside is home to a number of ethnic Zhuang villages. The economy is centered on sugar production. Located near Yizhou is a British-Chinese jointly run sugar processing plant. The countryside surrounding Yizhou is similar in appearance to the tourist Mecca Yangshuo, located in the east of Guangxi. While Yizhou has a convenient tourist infrastructure, foreign tourists are sparse.
Perhaps the most famous invidivual in the history of Yizhou is the legendary Song Dynasty singer Liu Sanjie 刘三姐, renowned for her beautiful singing voice. The people of Yizhou believe that Liu was born there and a statue of her is in the city center.
In 2002 a riot struck the city. The Yizhou riots involved violence between the police and local farmers.
There are a Yishan Road and a Yishan light rail station in Shanghai named after the city.
On 26 August 2008 an explosion at a chemical plant killed 20 people and injured many more. 11,000 were evacuated from their homes.