Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County (Zhuang: Lozcwngz Bouxmohlaujcuz Swci Yen, simplified Chinese: 罗城仫佬族自治县; traditional Chinese: 羅城仫佬族自治縣; pinyin: Luóchéng Mùlǎozú Zìzhìxiàn) is an ethnic Mulao county of northern Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Hechi City. It is the only Mulao autonomous county in China.

Administrative divisions

There are 7 towns and 4 townships in the county:

Languages

The Mulao language (or Mulam) is spoken by the Mulao people of Luocheng County.

At least seven varieties of Chinese are spoken in Luocheng County (Edmondson 1992:137).

  • Putonghua is the national language of China.
  • Gui-Liu Hua is a local Pinghua variety spoken in Guilin and Liuzhou. It was spoken by government officials formerly sent to administer the region, and also used to be spoken in the provincial court.
  • Tuguai Hua is the local Southwestern Mandarin vernacular spoken in Luocheng, Rongshui, and other nearby counties.
  • Magai is a Cantonese variety introduced by migrating merchants from Guangdong.
  • Ngai is a form of Southern Chinese with seven tones. It is spoken by 20,000 Han peasant agriculturalists.
  • Yangsan is an archaic form of Chinese now spoken by only 300 people. It retains voiced stops and ten tones.
  • Southern Min was introduced by recent migrants from Fujian.

Climate

Climate data for Luocheng, elevation 363 m (1,191 ft), (1991–2020 normals)
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)12.6 (54.7)15.0 (59.0)18.1 (64.6)23.8 (74.8)27.8 (82.0)29.9 (85.8)31.7 (89.1)32.1 (89.8)30.2 (86.4)26.1 (79.0)21.3 (70.3)15.7 (60.3)23.7 (74.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)9.1 (48.4)11.4 (52.5)14.5 (58.1)19.8 (67.6)23.6 (74.5)25.9 (78.6)27.2 (81.0)27.2 (81.0)25.2 (77.4)21.1 (70.0)16.2 (61.2)11.2 (52.2)19.4 (66.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)6.6 (43.9)8.8 (47.8)12.0 (53.6)16.9 (62.4)20.5 (68.9)23.2 (73.8)24.1 (75.4)23.8 (74.8)21.5 (70.7)17.5 (63.5)12.8 (55.0)8.1 (46.6)16.3 (61.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)53.7 (2.11)51.2 (2.02)92.7 (3.65)131.4 (5.17)242.2 (9.54)366.5 (14.43)251.6 (9.91)161.6 (6.36)88.9 (3.50)62.5 (2.46)59.4 (2.34)43.7 (1.72)1,605.4 (63.21)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)13.812.518.416.717.019.217.114.28.78.29.49.2164.4
Average snowy days0.60.10000000000.20.9
Average relative humidity (%)77788281818482807673747278
Mean monthly sunshine hours48.043.646.666.996.493.3151.8174.3162.8136.7112.194.91,227.4
Percentage possible sunshine14141217232336444539352928
Source: China Meteorological Administration
  • Edmondson, Jerold A. 1992. "Fusion and diffusion in E, Guangxi Province, China". T. Dutton et al. (eds.) The language game: papers in memory of Donald C. Laycock (Pacific Linguistic Series, C-110). Department of Linguistics, Australian National University, Canberra, 135–144.