桂A 12345
桂 plates: Guangxi, and what the letters mean
Facts checked
A plate beginning 桂 was registered in Guangxi, a autonomous region. The character is Guì, said roughly “gway”. 桂 means cassia or sweet osmanthus and is short for 桂林 Guìlín, 'cassia forest', the region's old administrative seat. Guangxi means 'the western expanse', from the Song circuit 广南西路.
The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 桂A belongs to Nanning, and 15 further letters are recorded below.
The colour of the plate is a separate fact from the characters: it says what kind of vehicle carries it, and the characters say nothing about it. The colour guide sets out what each of the 7 colours licenses.
Key facts
| Plate character | 桂 “gway” |
|---|---|
| Place | Guangxi |
| Kind | autonomous region |
| Capital | Nanning |
| City letters | 16 |
| Why this character | 桂 means cassia or sweet osmanthus and is short for 桂林 Guìlín, 'cassia forest', the region's old administrative seat. Guangxi means 'the western expanse', from the Song circuit 广南西路. |
The city letters
- 桂A Nanning
- 桂B Liuzhou
- 桂C Guilin
- 桂D Wuzhou
- 桂E Beihai
- 桂F Chongzuo
- 桂G Laibin
- 桂H Guilin Prefecture
- 桂J Hezhou
- 桂K Yulin (Guangxi)
- 桂L Baise
- 桂M Hechi
- 桂N Qinzhou
- 桂O Guangxi public security
- 桂P Fangchenggang
- 桂R Guigang
| Prefix | Letter | City | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 桂A | A | Nanning | |
| 桂B | B | Liuzhou | |
| 桂C | C | Guilin | |
| 桂D | D | Wuzhou | |
| 桂E | E | Beihai | |
| 桂F | F | Chongzuo | Formerly the plate of Nanning Prefecture. |
| 桂G | G | Laibin | Formerly the plate of Liuzhou Prefecture. |
| 桂H | H | Guilin Prefecture | Discontinued: the prefecture merged into Guilin city on 27 August 1998. English Wikipedia lists 桂H alongside 桂C for Guilin, reflecting the merger. |
| 桂J | J | Hezhou | Formerly the plate of Wuzhou Prefecture. |
| 桂K | K | Yulin (Guangxi) | 玉林 Yùlín, not to be confused with 榆林 Yúlín in Shaanxi (陕K). |
| 桂L | L | Baise | On older Baise plates the first character marked a county: 1 Tianyang, 2 Tiandong, 3 Pingguo, 4 Debao, 5 Jingxi, 6 Tianlin, 7 Longlin, 8 Napo, 9 Lingyun, A Xilin, B Leye. |
| 桂M | M | Hechi | |
| 桂N | N | Qinzhou | |
| 桂O | O | Guangxi public security | Police series. |
| 桂P | P | Fangchenggang | |
| 桂R | R | Guigang |
Guangxi plates: questions people ask
- What does 桂 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
- 桂 (Guì, "gway") is the abbreviation for Guangxi. 桂 means cassia or sweet osmanthus and is short for 桂林 Guìlín, 'cassia forest', the region's old administrative seat. Guangxi means 'the western expanse', from the Song circuit 广南西路.
- Which city is 桂A?
- Nanning. The letter A goes to the seat of government in almost every province, and the remaining letters were assigned to the other issuing offices.
- How many plate letters does Guangxi use?
- 16 are recorded here, A to R. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.
Related
Sources for Guangxi
- Wikipedia (Chinese), 中华人民共和国民用机动车号牌 (Civil motor-vehicle registration plates of the People's Republic of China). Read . Carries the complete province-by-province table of issuing-office letters, with the retired and renumbered series footnoted to Chinese news and public-security sources. Used as a finding aid; wording here is our own.
- Wikipedia, Vehicle registration plates of China. Read . English list of prefixes; the article flags its own list as incomplete, so it is used here to cross-check the Chinese table rather than as the primary record.