Yulin, Guangxi  Yulin (, ), alternately romanized as Watlam, is one of the fourteen prefecture-level cities of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. Its Chinese name was changed in 1956 from the historical name "" (), which is homophonous in Standard Mandarin, but different in the local dialect of Yue Chinese; "" is while "" is . The former romanization follows the pronunciation of the historical name in Yue Chinese. Its built-up area is made of two urban districts, and Beiliu City was home to 2,309,600 inhabitants as of 2016 census. Yulin is located in southeastern Guangxi province along the border with Guangdong. It is a hilly basin with a total area of . Yulin's climate is subtropical and monsoonal. Average annual temperatures is 21.6 °C. Yearly precipitation is 1,475 mm.  Artifacts suggest that the area was settled before the Qin Dynasty but a commandery by the name of Yulin was not established until early Han Dynasty. The urban centre of Yulin became a "zhou" in 996 AD. Since ancient times, Yulin has been important for trade and communications between central China and the south, especially along the coast of the Tonkin Gulf. Yulin has two districts, one city, four counties, and 119 towns and townships. Districts:  County-level City:  Counties:  Demographics:  Some Chinese linguists have suggested that the Yulin dialect is the best surviving example of what ancient spoken Chinese would have sounded like based on rhyme patterns in Tang dynasty poetry. Yulin is also known for its annual dog meat festival which takes place on 21 June. Over 10,000 dogs are killed at this festival for human consumption. Reports of inhumane treatment, including torture, caused celebrities and others to protest against the Festival. Du Yufeng has been to Yulin Dog Meat Festival every year since 2012. Another woman named Yang Xiaoyun went as far as to pay 150,000 yuan to save 360 dogs and dozens of cats from the festival in 2014 and 7,000 yuan to save 100 dogs in 2015. Some Chinese celebrities such as Ai Weiwei, Chen Kun and Yang Mi, as well as international celebrities like Ken Todd, Lisa Vanderpump, Ricky Gervais, Ian Somerhalder, Leona Lewis, Lori Alan, and Tom Kenny, have also publicly expressed a distaste for the festival.