Brief Introduction: Zhangye City is located in the middle of Hexi Corridor in the northwest of Gansu Province. In ancient times it was named Ganzhou, where is the origin of the first character Gan for the name of Gansu Province from. Covering an area of 40,874 square kilometers,it has a population of 1.31 million, mainly Han, and 26 ethnic minorities suchas Hui, Yugur, and Mongolian. Yugur, with its unique characteristics, is the most populous ethnic group in Zhangye, 98% of which live in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County. Yugur minority is a special one which only can be found in Zhangye of Gansu province. Zhangye can be an important post town on the ancient "Silk Road" to enter the Hexi Corridor. It is the key point for economic and cultural exchanges and friendly exchanges between Central Plains and countries in West Asia and Eastern Europe. Zhangye has a long history of more than 2000 years,where splendid culture, beautiful mountains and rivers, simple and honest folk customs, rich water and grass gather and which was well known as the reputation of  "Golden Zhangye" .

According to the Neolithic stone axes unearthed at the site of Blackwater Kingdom, as early as in ancient times,humans lived a hunting and nomadic life here. Zhangye belongs to Yong zhou in ancient times, where the Qiang people lived in the Xia and Shang dynasties. During the Zhou Dynasty, the Rong and Di ethnic nationalities lived here. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Yuezhi and Wusun people lived here. During the Warring States Period, castles and the Great Wall were built here. Now in Zhangye area the ruins of one part of Qin Great Wall still can be found.

Afterwards Wusun was driven out by the Yuezhi and fled to Yili, Xinjiang, and Zhangye was occupied by the Yuezhii people, which had "one hundred to two hundred thousand people who were good at riding and shooting ". The capital city of Yuezhi (today's Yonggu in Minle City) and Zhaowu City (today's Linze County) were the central cities where Yuezhi lived on both sides of the Heihe River(Black river). In 6 BC,Maunton, the king of Xiongnu (Huns) ,with hundreds of thousands of strong troops, defeated the Yuezhi. Zhangye became the territory of the king of Xiongnu(Huns). After the Huns occupied this area, they plundered constantly, which destroyed the friendly exchanges between Han and Huns and cut off the long existing relationship between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions.

In 121 BC during the reign of Emperor Wudi in the Han Dynasty the emperor Wudi sent the general Huo Qubing to defeat the Xiongnu(Huns). Then Zhangye prefecture(Jun) was established. It got its name from the meaning of "breaking the arm of Xiongnu and extending the arm of China ". The phrase of extending the arm was read Zhangye in Chinese. In the Northern Dynasty and the Western Wei dynasty the name was changed to Ganzhou. In Sui dynasty the prefecture system was restored again. In the early Tang Dynasty, the state(Zhou) were established here. In the Yuan Dynasty Ganzhou Lu was set up here. In the Ming Dynasty Ganzhou Wei was set up, and in the QingDynasty it was set up for Ganzhou Fu. Zhangye County(Xian) was set up here in 1927, and Zhangye city (Shi) was set up in 1985 instead of Zhangye county(xian). In 1986 it was announced by the State Council as the second batch of historical and cultural cities which open to the outside world.

In ancient times, Zhangye was one of the four prefectures in Hexi corridor (Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Zhangye and Wuwei). It was the center of political, economic, cultural and diplomatic activities of the Central Plains dynasties in Northwest China. Zhangye used to be the capital of the Northern Liang  State, the capital of the Xingdu Department, the capital of Gansu Province and the government office of the state in the past dynasties. It is known as "the lock and key on the silk road". The ruins of Han and Ming Great Wall, ancient grottoes, temples, monument towers, ancient castles, beacon towers and tombs can be found in Zhangye area. In the legendary stories of Dayu drawing water from Ruoshui river to Heli , Laozi riding a grey cattle into the quicksand, the King Mu of Zhou dynasty taking the cart carried by 8 horses to visit the Wangmu of the West Heaven , the name of Zhangye was mentioned many times. In the history Zhang Qian , Ban Chao, Fa Xian and others had passed through Zhangye on their way to the Western Regions. In 609 AD the Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty gathered the sovereigns and envoys in Zhangye from 27 kingdoms of the Western Regions and the first world’s fair in Sui dynasty was held in Zhangye at that year. Historical legends and records, such as Tang Xuanzang's  pilgrimage to the West via Zhangye and Marco Polo's  one-year sojourn in Zhangye, make this land even more magical.

Now Zhangye is a commodity grain base in Gansu Province, rich in wheat, corn, rice, beans, oils, fruits and vegetables. There are more than 10 departments for industry, such as coal, machinery ,textile,brewing and so on. Local products are also very rich, such as Yuan onion,apple, pear, Wujiang rice, red dates, facai (hair-liked weeds), Siluchun liquor,etc. Zhangye boasts the largest military horse farm in Asia, a state-level wet land reserve approved by the State Council, and Zhangye World Geopark, rated as one of the world's top ten magical geographical wonders by the US National Geographic magazine.

Area :  40874 Square km

Population:1.31 million

The Altitude: 1483m in the downtown of Zhangye

The climate: It belongs to a typical continental grassland desert climate which is mainly controlled by the westerly circulation in the middle and high latitudes and influenced by the polar cold air mass. The climate is characterized by dry climate, long cold winters, short warm summers. Read more.........

The Transportation: Zhangye was the transportation center of the ancient Silk Road along the Hexi Corridor.After the founding of new China, the transportation industry developed rapidly. The Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway, which was officially opened in 1956, runs through the whole territory and ......Read more.......

Local foods : The snacks of Zhangye have a long history, the varieties of which are too numerous to enumerate. Because Zhangye is rich in wheat, the snacks are mainly pasta. The names of the snacks are varied...... Read more.......

Attractions: Danxia World Geological Park  , Giant Buddha Temple  , Pingshanhu Grand Canyon  ,  Mati Temple grottoes ,  Binggou Danxia park

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