Zhuanglang County is a rural

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

Pingliang Pingliang () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the south and east and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to the north. The city was established in 376 AD. It has a residential population of 2 ...

in the east of

Gansu Province Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibeta ...

, China. It borders

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 north, the Gansu

county-level division The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there ...

s of Huating City to the east,

Zhangjiachuan County The Zhangjiachuan Hui Autonomous County (, Xiao'erjing: ) is a county in the east of Gansu Province of the People's Republic of China, bordering Shaanxi Province to the east. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Tianshui ...

to the southeast,

Qin'an County Qin'an County () is a county in the east of Gansu province of the People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Tianshui. Its postal code is 741600, and in 1999 its population was 567,553 people. As ...

to the southwest, and Jingning County to the west. Nearby major cities include Pingliang,

Tianshui Tianshui is the second-largest city in Gansu Province, China. The city is located in the southeast of the province, along the upper reaches of the Wei River and at the boundary of the Loess Plateau and the Qinling Mountains. As of the 2020 ce ...

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 provinc ...

, and Lanzhou. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Zhuanglang—once known as Zhuanglang, Tchouang-lan, Chwang-lan, or Chwanglang—is now called Shuiluo. Its walled town was an important regional post in late imperial China, visited by

Jesuit missionaries , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and reported on by the

Macartney Embassy The Macartney Embassy (), also called the Macartney Mission, was the first British diplomatic mission to China, which took place in 1793. It is named for its leader, George Macartney, Great Britain's first envoy to China. The goals of the missi ...

. It remains a relatively busy administrative, educational, and trading spot for the county. Other market towns in the county include Nanhu, Zhudian, and Handian in the north, south-west, and south-east respectively. The people of Zhuanglang are predominantly farmers, producing wheat and potatoes on terraced hills. The farmers of Zhuanglang were proclaimed in the 1980s for having terraced all available hillside, and a monument in the county town records the famous 'Zhuanglang Spirit' by which this was achieved. In recent years, education has been a priority for the local government. With the help of

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

funding, schools in Zhuanglang have been well supported. Nearly all children now complete primary education, while there are 23 junior middle schools, and 3 senior middle schools which send students on to colleges and universities. The cultural sites of Zhuanglang include: * Yunyasi. The beautiful Yunya temple forms the centrepiece of a protected forest park in the far east of the county, around from the county town. * Zi Jin Temple. This temple was re-opened in 1986 after 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 goa ...

and is in the centre of the county town. Close by is an earth fortress dating from the era of

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

invasions through this region. * Chen Dong Temple. This more isolated

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 ...

temple is to be found in the north-east of the county. The highest point of the county is Taomushan at 2857m above sea level. Population (2005 est.) *Total = 420,000 *Ethnic composition = 99%

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

, 1%

Hui Muslim The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

*Major Towns **Shuiluo = 30,000 **Nanhu = 10,000 **Zhudian = 6,000 **Handian = 5,000

Administrative Divisions

Zhuanglang County is divided to 1 Subdistricts, 15 towns and 3 townships. ;Subdistricts * Shuiluo () ;Towns -Towns are upgraded from Township. ;Townships * Yanghe Township () * Zhaodun Township () * Zhenghe Township ()

Climate

References

External links

Official website of Zhuanglang County government
County-level divisions of Gansu Pingliang {{Gansu-geo-stub