Guyuan | |
Native Name: | Chinese: 固原市 · {{script/Arabic|قُيُوًا شِ |
Other Name: | Kuyuan; Kuyüan |
Settlement Type: | Prefecture-level city |
Pushpin Map: | China Ningxia |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the city center in Ningxia |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
Subdivision Type1: | Region |
Subdivision Name1: | Ningxia |
Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
Seat: | Yuanzhou District |
Area Total Km2: | 14412.83 |
Elevation M: | 1777 |
Population As Of: | 2007 |
Population Total: | 1455200 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Population Density Urban Km2: | auto |
Demographics Type2: | GDP |
Demographics2 Title1: | Total |
Demographics2 Info1: | CN¥ 21.7 billion US$ 3.5 billion |
Demographics2 Title2: | Per capita |
Demographics2 Info2: | CN¥ 17,819 US$ 2,861 |
Timezone: | China Standard |
Utc Offset: | +8 |
Coor Pinpoint: | Zhongxin Park (Chinese: 中心公园) |
Coordinates: | 36.01°N 106.257°W |
Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
Postal Code: | 756000 |
Area Code: | (0)954 |
Iso Code: | CN-NX-04 |
Blank2 Name: | Licence plate prefixes |
Blank2 Info: | Chinese: 宁D |
Guyuan, formerly known as Xihaigu (Xiao'erjing: قُيُوًا شِ), is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It occupies the southernmost section of the region, bordering Gansu province to the east, south, and due west. This is also the site of Mount Sumeru Grottoes (Chinese: 须弥山), which is among the ten most famous grottoes in China.[1] As of the end of 2018, the total resident population in Guyuan was 1,124,200.[2]
During the Warring States Period, Guyuan belonged to the territory of Qin state, later Qin Dynasty. The original name of the city began in the Ming dynasty (1452 AD). Because of the importance of its transportation in history, Guyuan was a war gate where Chinese soldiers trained and prepared to fight with northwestern minorities. In the Tang dynasty, most of the dealers from middle Asia need to go through this gate, then went to the capital, Chang’an.[3]
According to the First Founder's Biography in History of Yuan Dynasty, Genghis Khan died in Liupan Mountain in Guyuan in 1227 AD, after a war with the Xixia dynasty for two decades.[4]
Liupanshan National Forest Park is one of the most important features of Guyuan, with more than 530 species of wild medicinal plants. There are a number of diversified animals inhabited in the forest, for instance, the national first-class protected animal golden leopard, the third-class protected animal forest musk deer, golden eagle, and red-bellied golden pheasant.[5]
Map | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Xiao'erjing | Population (2003 est.) | Area (km2) | Density (/km2) | |
Yuanzhou District | Chinese: 原州区 | 490,000 | 4,965 | 99 | |||
Xiji County | Chinese: 西吉县 | 460,000 | 3,985 | 115 | |||
Longde County | Chinese: 隆德县 | 190,000 | 1,269 | 150 | |||
Jingyuan County | Chinese: 泾源县 | 120,000 | 961 | 125 | |||
Pengyang County | Chinese: 彭阳县 | 250,000 | 3,241 | 77 |
Guyuan has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), with long, cold, dry winters, and warm, rainier summers. With temperatures cooled by the elevation that exceeds, highs average slightly below freezing in January and reach only in July. Much of the year's precipitation is delivered from June to September.
The city is served by Guyuan Liupanshan Airport, though travelers may also choose Zhongwei Xiangshan Airport and Yinchuan Hedong International Airport as well. The G70 Fuzhou–Yinchuan Expressway passes through the area on its way to the regional capital of Yinchuan.
As there is no high-speed railways to Guyuan, to Guyuan from a major city is an approximately 4-hour drive from Yinchuan, which is actually faster than traveling by train, .