Wuzhou's gem industry honed by time

Producing synthetic stones no longer delivering glittering profits, reports Li Yang in Wuzhou, Guangxi

Wuzhou city is located in a valley on the border between Guangxi and Guangdong, where three rivers converge into the big Xijiang River. Wuzhou prospered as a commercial hub of five neighboring provinces connected by the busy waterway from the 18th century to mid- 20th century.

The locals, speaking their Cantonese dialect, like to think of Wuzhou as the west gate of the better-off Guangdong rather than the east gate of the poorer Guangxi, to which it actually belongs.