Location: Guangxi, China
Population: 1.5 million.
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Guilin Monument Settlement
Built around the Guilin settlement which had been built in Guilin. The citizens decided to make the city itself a monument what they went through during the correction. The two leaders of the city, Zhang Wei and Li Xiu Ying, both have predictive cognizance, a trait which has earned then the title of Oracle. The leaders have both seen an ominous disaster in the future and believe the only way to avoid it is to isolate the city from the rest of the world.
The people of Guilin did not want the new technology left behind by the Lights to take over their lives. They wanted to exist the way they did before the correction. They rebuilt the city to be similar to the old city, but include much more traditional Chinese architecture. The people living in an older more run down area of the city chose to rebuild their dilapidated home exactly as they looked before. The only difference being that the new home only look run down, but are actually well constructed and have all the modern conveniences expected in a home.
Since the Lights technology removed the need for anyone to have a job, many people initially didn't know what to do with their lives. Over time, people began opening stores, but they were not for selling anything. The people would create art work, clothing, toys, or anything else that needed a personal touch to feel valuable. Restaurants became the most popular thing to open, since everyone knew how to cook and most believed they were the best at it. No matter where you stood in the city, there was always a restaurant a few meters away. Most businesses were open only whenever the proprietor felt like working, so many of them took to leaving a message terminal outside their shops for any potential customers to request something. No one worked because they needed to, they all did it to create something they believed someone else would find valuable. When Jack visited Guilin, he said when the rebuild started he had hoped the rest of the world would turn out like Guilin instead of expansive boring grey shelters with bored people that they did.