Lüliang, also spelled as Lvliang or Lyuliang, is a prefecture-level city in western Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Shaanxi province across the Yellow River to the west, Jinzhong and the provincial capital of Taiyuan to the east, Linfen to the south, and Xinzhou to the north. It has a total area of 21143 km2 and a total population of 3,398,431 inhabitants according to the 2020 Chinese census, of whom 456,355 lived in the Lishi District metropolitan area.

History

Originally organized by the People's Republic of China as the Jinsui Border Region, the region was sparsely populated in the early 20th century. However, the discovery of coal, iron, and aluminum deposits incentivized economic investment and population growth in the region. In May 1971, Lüliang was established as a prefecture-level area, and the area was reformed into a prefecture-level city in July 2004. In 2010, the city had a GDP growth rate of 21%; at the time, prices for coal were high and the city had an active coal industry. There were plans to build a new business district in Lüliang, strongly supported by then-mayor Zhang Zhongsheng. However, in 2014, the GDP declined by 2%, and by 2015, due to a slowing economy, plans in Lüliang stalled and many apartment blocks were left unoccupied. Zhongsheng lost his job due to corruption in 2015, and was sentenced to death in 2021 on bribery charges, with a 2-year reprieve. The Chinese-American reproductive biologist Min Chueh Chang was born in Lüliang in 1908.

Administration

Lüliang has direct jurisdiction over 1 district, 2 county-level cities, and 10 counties:

Climate

Lüliang has a monsoon-influenced continental climate, that, under the Köppen climate classification, falls on the borderline between the semi-arid (Köppen BSk) and humid continental (Dwa) regimes, and features large diurnal temperature variation. Winters are cold and very dry, while summers are hot and slightly humid. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from −7.0 °C in January to 23.7 °C in July, while the annual mean is 9.5 °C. Close to three-fourths of the annual precipitation occurs from June to September.

Transportation