| Liupanshui | |
| Settlement Type: | Prefecture-level city |
| Native Name: | 六盘水市 |
| Native Name Lang: | zh-Hans |
| Pushpin Map: | Guizhou#Southwest China |
| Pushpin Label Position: | Location of the city center in Guizhou |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Guizhou |
| Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
| Seat: | Zhongshan District |
| Area Total Km2: | 9926 |
| Population As Of: | 2006 |
| Population Total: | 2,830,000 |
| Population Metro: | 251,900 |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP[1] |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Prefecture-level city |
| Demographics2 Info1: | CN¥ 134.0 billion US$ 19.4 billion |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Per capita |
| Demographics2 Info2: | CN¥ 44,224 US$ 6,412 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Liupanshui municipal government |
| Coordinates: | 26.5925°N 104.8304°W |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 553000 |
| Area Code: | 858 |
| Iso Code: | CN-GZ-02 |
Liupanshui is a city in western Guizhou province, People's Republic of China. The name Liupanshui combines the first character from the names of each of the city's three constituent counties: Liuzhi, Panzhou, Shuicheng. As a prefecture-level city with an area of 9926km2, Liupanshui had a total population of over 2,830,000 in 2006, making it the second largest in the province, though only 251,900 inhabitants were urban residents. The city is known locally as "The Cool City" or "Cool Capital" due to its low average summer temperature.
The general area is significant as the seat of the historic Yelang political entity, a confederation of tribes that dominated parts of modern-day Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The city was established in 1978 as a prefecture-level municipality.
Its administratively divided to the following county-level jurisdictions:
The Liupanshui City Ethnic Gazetteer (Chinese: 六盘水市志：民族志) (2003:139, 154, 160) lists the following ethnic groups and their respective locations.
Liupanshui is a major rail hub in southwestern China. The Shanghai-Kunming, Liupanshui-Baiguo and Neijiang-Kunming Railways intersect in the city.
The city is served by Liupanshui Yuezhao Airport.
Tourism in Liupanshui focuses on minority folk culture and karst landform tourism. This includes the underground lake in Qilin Cave Park (Chinese: 麒麟公园), Danxia Mountain (Chinese: 丹霞山), about which Xu Xiake, the Chinese travel writer and geographer of the Ming Dynasty, had written. Yushe National Park (Chinese: 玉舍国家公园) includes the Jiucai Ping Scenic Zone (Chinese: 韭菜坪景区). The flat-topped Jiucai Ping is the tallest mountain in Guizhou Province at about 2900 meters. Jiucai here means "garlic chives," so named because the mountain is famous for its garlic chive blossoms. Other attractions include the sunrise, the sea of clouds, and unusual rock formations. Also notable is the Tiansheng Bridge (Chinese: 天生桥), "tiansheng" meaning "god-made." There is also a nature reserve called Shuicheng Francois's Leaf Monkey Nature Reserve (Chinese: 水城野钟黑叶猴自然保护区).
Local cuisine includes Yangrou fen (Chinese: 羊肉粉) - Lamb rice noodles, and Luoguo yangyu (Chinese: 烙锅洋芋) - Fried potatoes.
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in China.
Liupanshui is twinned with:
Tucson, Arizona, United States[2]