Bijie is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Guizhou Province, China, bordering Sichuan to the north and Yunnan to the west. The Daotianhe Reservoir, located to the north of the town was commissioned in 1965 with a rated annual capacity of 6.5 million cubic meters. On 10 November 2011, the former Bijie Prefecture (毕节地区) was converted to a prefecture-level city, and the former county-level city of Bijie was rechristened Qixingguan District.

Geography and climate

Bijie borders Zunyi to the east, Anshun and Liupanshui to the south, Zhaotong and Qujing (Yunnan) to the west, and Luzhou (Sichuan) to the north. It spans latitude 26°21′−27°46′ N and longitude 105°36′−106°43′ E, and is marked heavily by the presence of the Wumeng Mountains (乌蒙山) as well as karst topography. The Wu, Beipan, and Chishui Rivers are the most important rivers that originate here. The highest elevation is Jiucaiping (韭菜坪), at 2900.6 m, on the border of Hezhang and Weining counties. Due to its low latitude and elevation above 1700 m, Bijie has a monsoon-influenced subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb), bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) with very warm, rainy summers and cool, damp winters. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 3.0 °C in January to 21.9 °C in July, while the annual mean is 13.3 °C. Rainfall is very common year-round, occurring on 189 days of the year, but over half of the annual total (898 mm) occurs from June to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 14% in January to 40% in August, the city receives 1,162 hours of bright sunshine annually; spring is sunnier and features warmer daytime temperatures than autumn. Snow and ice are occasional hazards over winter, with a particularly severe event in January 2023.

Administration

Bijie City consists of one district, one county-level city, five counties and one autonomous county. These are:

Demographics

According to the 2010 Sixth National Census, Bijie City had a permanent resident population of 6,536,370, an increase of 208,899 (3.3% or 0.33% annually), 3,400,195 (52.02%) of which were male, producing a male-female ratio of 108.42:100. Children aged 0−14 numbered 2,029,934人 (31.06%), persons aged 15−64 numbered 4,018,583 (61.48), and seniors 65+ numbered 487,853 (7.46%). The urban population stood at 1,711,222 (26.18%). Persons of Han ethnicity numbered 4,824,015 (73.80%), while minorities formed the other 26.20%.

Transport

At present the backbone of the transport network in Bijie City is formed by China National Highways 321 and 326. , Bijie is the only prefecture-level city of Guizhou to lack rail service; this changed with the 2020 opening of the Leshan (Sichuan)−Guiyang Railway (成贵客运专线). Other projected rail lines are Bijie−Shuicheng−Xingyi (毕水兴铁路) and Zhaotong (Yunnan)−Weining−Bijie−Jinsha−Zunyi. The city is served by the Bijie Feixiong Airport.

Historical sites

Notable historical sites in Bijie include the following: