Huan County or Huanxian () is an administrative district in eastern Gansu province, China at the junction of three provinces: Gansu,

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

to the northeast, and

Ningxia Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1 ...

to the west and northwest. It is under the administration of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China ...

of Qingyang. Its postal code is 745700, and the population in 2019 was 316703. Huanxian is known as one of the first places in China where

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

was practiced. It was part of ancient

Yongzhou Yongzhou, formerly known as Lingling, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Hunan province, People's Republic of China, located on the southern bank of the Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, and b ...

. In 994 it was known as Huanzhou. In 1369 it became known as Huanxian. In 1669 Huanxian and the governing Qingyang were transferred from Shaanxi to Gansu.

Administrative divisions

Huan County is divided to 10 towns, 10 townships and 1 other. ;Towns ;Townships ;Others * Siheyuan Tourism Development Office()

Climate

Economy

Huanxian has extensive coal resources and home to the Changqing Oilfield. Several wind farms have also been constructed in Huanxian. It is also an important agricultural base for grains. The county is considered poor, due to the arid climate making agriculture difficult, and the mountainous terrain hindering transport.

Tourism

Parts of the Qin Great Wall are located in the south of Huanxian.

Culture

Huanxian food specialities include lamb meat,

Huangjiu ''Huangjiu'' (), meaning yellow wine, is a Chinese alcoholic beverage, and is most popular in the Jiangnan area. ''Huangjiu'' is brewed by mixing boiled grains including rice, glutinous rice or millet with qū as starter culture, followed by ...

, buckwheat noodles, and Yanmian Rourou noodles (). Huanxian is also known for its

shadow play Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-o ...

, which has been listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. It is called the home of shadow theatre in China.

Transportation

China National Highway 211 China National Highway 211 (G211) runs from Yinchuan in Ningxia to Xi'an in Shaanxi. It is 645 kilometres in length and runs southwest from Wuning in Ningxia and then turns southeast on a virtual straight line to Xi'an via primarily rural areas ...

* China National Highway 341 (under construction) *

G69 Yinchuan–Baise Expressway The Yinchuan–Baise Expressway (), designated as G69 and commonly referred to as the Yinbai Expressway (), is a partially completed expressway in China. It is a major north-south expressway that when complete, will connect the cities of Yinchuan, ...

Yinchuan–Xi'an high-speed railway Yinchuan–Xi'an high-speed railway, is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line in Northwest China between Yinchuan and Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of ...

References

County-level divisions of Gansu Qingyang {{Gansu-geo-stub