Before Liyue Harbor existed in Genshin Impact’s lore, the people of Liyue mainly lived in the agricultural and mining settlements around Mt. Tianheng and the area later known as Guili Plains, under Rex Lapis and Guizhong’s guidance. Over time, repeated wars and floods ruined Guili Plains and pushed survivors southward toward the coast, where the growing harbor city eventually formed.

Before Liyue Harbor Was Built

Early settlements of Liyue’s people

The “then people of Liyue” did not start out as coastal merchants but as inland settlers clustered around Mt. Tianheng and nearby valleys. Key early population centers included:

  • Guili Plains : A fertile region founded and nurtured by Rex Lapis and Guizhong, where people lived in prosperous farming and craft villages before its destruction.
  • Mt. Tianheng region : Mining communities developed around rich ore and luminescent jade seams, with villages dug into and around the mountain slopes.

These inland communities formed the core of what would later be recognized as Liyue’s civilization, long before a formal harbor city appeared on the coast.

From Guili Plains to the coast

Liyue’s population did not move all at once; it shifted in waves due to disasters and war.

  1. Archon War and conflicts devastated Guili Plains, leaving cities and farmlands ruined and forcing survivors to abandon much of the old heartland.
  1. Floods and later calamities further reduced the livable areas of Guili Plains, pushing people toward safer ground.
  1. As trade and contracts became Liyue’s focus, communities gradually concentrated along the shoreline south of Mt. Tianheng, where Liyue Harbor would “take shape” as a commercial hub rather than appear overnight.

So, just before Liyue Harbor’s establishment, many people still lived scattered across inland villages and remnants of Guili Plains, while a growing share had already begun settling around the coastal bays that would transform into the harbor.

How lore frames “where they lived”

In simplified terms, lore and fan discussions generally paint this picture of “where Liyue’s people lived before the harbor”:

  • In mythic early times :
    • Around Mt. Tianheng as miners and craftspeople.
    • In Guili Plains as farmers and city-dwellers under Guizhong and Zhongli.
  • In the post‑war, pre‑harbor era :
    • Survivors dispersed among:
      • Ruined but still inhabited parts of Guili Plains.
      • Mountain settlements and adepti-adjacent areas like those around Jueyun Karst (for mortals, mostly foothill/semi-rural zones).
  * Emerging coastal villages that would later link together into Liyue Harbor’s docklands and merchant quarters.

A handy way to think of it is: first plains and mountains, then slowly the coast.

Mini lore-styled snapshot

Long before lanterns lit the docks of Liyue Harbor, people woke to the sound of pickaxes on Mt. Tianheng and the rustle of crops in Guili Plains. Their homes were stone houses tucked against mountain walls and farmsteads stretching under Guizhong’s watchful gaze. Only after wars broke the heart of the plains and floods gnawed away at the land did caravans start threading south, following new contracts and trade routes toward the sea. The “people of Liyue” did not discover the harbor all at once—they grew into it, step by step, leaving footprints from ruined fields to crowded piers.

TL;DR

  • Before Liyue Harbor, people mainly lived in Guili Plains (farmland cities) and around Mt. Tianheng (mining settlements).
  • Disasters and wars drove them away from these inland heartlands.
  • Over time they migrated toward the coast , and their scattered coastal villages evolved into the Liyue Harbor known in the game today.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.