Yuanzhou District, formerly Guyuan, is a district and the seat of the city of Guyuan in the south of Ningxia, China, bordering Gansu province to the northeast. It has a total area of 3,914 square kilometers (1,511 sq mi) and a population of 510,000 people.
Yuanzhou District is the economic, political, and transportation center of Guyuan. It includes the old town of Guyuan or Guyuanzhou, which administered a prefecture in imperial times and a county before its urbanization.
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.[5]
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.[6]
Most remains of the ancient city, including a bell tower,[7] were destroyed during the 1970s to build an air-raid shelter,[8] with only parts of the old city wall remaining.[9]
Demographics
As of 2020 the population was 471,329. In 2022 the urbanization rate in the district was 58%.[2]
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