Zhongwei (,

Xiao'erjing Xiao'erjing or Xiao'erjin or Xiaor jin or in its shortened form, Xiaojing, literally meaning "children's script" or "minor script" (cf. "original script" referring to the original Perso-Arabic script; zh, s=本经, t=本經, p=Běnjīng, Xiao ...

: جْووِ شِ) is a

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' ...

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 ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It has an area of and a population of 1,174,600 in 2019. The city is known for its

wolfberry Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry () is the fruit of either ''Lycium barbarum'' or ''Lycium chinense'', two closely related species of Lycium, boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. ''L. barbarum'' and ''L. chinense'' fruits ar ...

and Gobi

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...

cultivation. One of the world's largest

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

Tengger Desert Solar Park Tengger Desert Solar Park is the sixth-largest photovoltaic plant in the world as of December, 2021. It is located in Zhongwei, Ningxia, China. It covers an area of 43 km2. In 2018, it was the solar park with the largest peak power capacity (1,547 ...

, is located in Zhongwei.

History

Under general

Meng Tian Meng Tian (c. 250 BC – 210 BC) was a Chinese inventor and military general of the Qin dynasty who distinguished himself in campaigns against the Xiongnu and in the construction of the Great Wall of China. He was the elder brother of Meng Yi. ...

, the

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

captured the area of Zhongwei and established the

Beidi Commandery Beidi Commandery ( zh, c=北地郡, l=Northern Land) was a commandery of the Qin and Han dynasties of China, located in what is now Ningxia. Its seat was Maling (馬領) during the Western Han period and Fuping (富平, near modern Wuzhong, Ningxia ...

. In 205 BC a city was built at the current location of Zhongwei urban area, which would grow as irrigation systems were built to allow farming. In 1226

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

captured Zhongwei. In 1403 the city was named Zhongwei, part of

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

. In 1920 Zhongwei was struck by the Haiyuan earthquake. In 1926 the highway from

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

to Zhongwei opened.

Tourism

Zhongwei's main attraction is Gao Miao, a temple that has hosted

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, and

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

ceremonies. A bomb shelter was also built beneath the temple during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. It has since been converted into a rendition of a Buddhist hell. The prefecture is also the location of the beginning of the northern bend in the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

that produces the

Ordos Loop The Ordos Plateau, also known as the Ordos Basin or simply the Ordos, is a highland sedimentary basin in northwest China with an elevation of , and consisting mostly of land enclosed by the Ordos Loop, a large northerly rectangular bend of the Y ...

. A drum tower is located in the city center.

Administrative divisions

Geography

Zhongwei is located on the northern banks of the

and bordered directly by the

Tengger Desert The Tengger Desert or Tengri Desert ( mn, Тэнгэр цөл, ) is an arid natural region that covers about 36,700 km2 and is mostly in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China. The desert is expanding in size.Haner, Josh, et al. (24 O ...

in the north. The city has been battling desertification since the 1950s. Using straw checkerboard patterns the advance of sand dunes is stopped.

Climate

Transportation

Zhongwei Railway Station (20151229075936)

* Zhongwei Shapotou Airport * Baotou–Lanzhou railway * Baoji–Zhongwei railway, to points south (connections to

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

) * Taiyuan-Zhongwei-Yinchuan railway, to the east (connection to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

) * Gantang–Wuwei railway, to western Gansu and westward * Zhongwei–Lanzhou high-speed railway *

G70 Fuzhou–Yinchuan Expressway The Fuzhou–Yinchuan Expressway (), designated as G70 and commonly referred to as the Fuyin Expressway () is an expressway that connects the cities of Fuzhou, Fujian, China, and Yinchuan, Ningxia. It is in length. The expressway was completed wi ...

G2012 Dingbian–Wuwei Expressway The Dingbian–Wuwei Expressway (), commonly referred to as the Dingwu Expressway () is an expressway that connects Dingbian County, Yulin, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China and Wuwei, Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a ...

China National Highway 109 China National Highway 109 connects Beijing with Lhasa. It runs westwards from Beijing via Datong, Yinchuan and Xining to Golmud before turning southwest to Lhasa. The portion of the highway from Xining to Lhasa is known as the Qinghai-Tibet Hi ...

Gallery

Image:DesertLake3.jpg, Desert Lake Image:DesertLake.jpg, Desert Lake Image:DesertLake2.jpg, Desert Lake File:Shapotou desert area (20171005173240).jpg, Shapotou scenic area File:Camel convoys in Shapotou (20171005173358).jpg, Camels in Shapotou Image:Zhongwei_cultural_centre.jpg, Zhongwei cultural centre

References

External links

Official website of Zhongwei Government
{{Authority control Prefecture-level divisions of Ningxia Cities in Ningxia