Guazhou County

File:Location of Guazhou within Gansu (China).png

Guazhou (pink) within Jiuquan prefecture (yellow) within Gansu (grey)

Guazhou County (Chinese: 瓜州县; pinyin: Guāzhōu Xiàn), formerly (until 2006) Anxi County (安西县), is an administrative district in Gansu, the People's Republic of China. It is one of 58 counties of Gansu. It is part of the Jiuquan prefecture, with the city of the same name being the prefecture seat.

Guazhou 400 MW windfarm

History

"[Emperor] Wudi [140-87 BCE] had the Great Wall extended northwestward all the way to the Gate of Jade (Yumen Pass), the westernmost garrison town near Dunhuang. He then set up a system of garrisons all along this part of the Great Wall and put its headquarters in a town called Anxi (“Tranquil West”)."

The town of Guazhou was previously called:

"Yuanquan (or occasionally Anxiyuanquan) and also Xincheng (New Town). If you are coming to see the historic Anxi, where the northern and southern Silk Routes diverge, you need to go to the now ruined and very beautiful place called Suoyang which is also not on the geographic databases but lies east of the small town of Tashi, about 30km south. To add to the name debate, Tashi is also known locally as Suoyangxiang (because it is the chief administrative town of Suoyang Township) while the fortress at Suoyang is also called Guazhou."

Transport

• The Lanxin Railway, and the Guazhou-Dunhuang branch
• China National Highway 215 (Hongliuyuan)
• China National Highway 312 (Hongliuyuan)

See also

• List of administrative divisions of Gansu
• Anxi (archaeological site)

References

• http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~chgis/work/downloads/faqs/1999_pop_faq.html
• Liu, Xinru (2010). The Silk Road in World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533810-2.