title: Lüliang
text: Lüliang (), also spelled as Lvliang or Lyuliang, is a prefecture-level city in the 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  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 in July 2004 the area Lüliang was reformed into a Prefecture-level city. 
  
  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.
  
  In July 2021, following a Chinese government crackdown on Abrahamic religions in China, Christian church minister Zhao Weikai was arrested and charged with "illegal holding of materials promoting terrorism and extremism" by the municipal police and was forbidden from meeting with his legal council. This incident was used by various human rights groups as an example of religious persecution by the Chinese Communist Party.
  
  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  in January to  in July, while the annual mean is . Close to three-fourths of the annual precipitation occurs from June to September.
  
  Transportation 
  China National Highway 209
  Lvliang Dawu Airport
  Taiyuan-Zhongwei-Yinchuan Railway
  
  References
  
  External links
  Official website of Lüliang government
  
   
  Cities in Shanxi
  Prefecture-level divisions of Shanxi