YinchuanWade-Giles romanization Yin-ch’uanPinyin Yinchuan, conventional Yinchwancity and capital of the Hui Autonomous Region of NingsiaNingxia, north-central China. The city It is located near the western bank of the upper course of the Huang Hoin northern Ningxia in the south-central section of the Helan Mountains (which define the western extent of the Ordos Desert), near the western end of the Great Wall of China in the south-central section of the Ho-lan Mountains and Ordos Desert. It is served by a river port at Heng-ch’eng, about 9.5 miles (15 km) to the east. Until the 1950s the river, which is navigable downstream as far as Pao-t’ou in the Inner Mongolian autonomous region and upstream to Chung-wei and Chung-ning, was the chief communication link. Highways also link the city to Pao-t’ou along the river, to Lan-chou in Kansu province to the southwest, to Wu-wei in Kansu to the west, and to Hsi-an (Sian [Ch’ang-an]) in Shensi province to the southeast. Since 1958 the city has been on the railway from Lan-chou to Pao-t’ou and is thus linked to other parts of China by rail.Yin-ch’uan originally was a hsien (county) under the name of Fu-p’ing in the 1st century BC. The city lies west of the upper course of the Huang He (Yellow River), where the river makes its great bend to flow north along the western edge of the Ordos Plateau.

Yinchuan originally was a county under the name of Lian in 119 BCE; its name was changed to Huai-yuan Huaiyuan in the 6th century AD CE. After the fall of the T’ang Tang dynasty in 907, it was occupied by the Tangut Peoples’ Hsi-Hsia dynastyTangut tribespeople in the 10th century; they later established the Xi (Western) Xia dynasty (1038–1227), of which it Yinchuan was the capital. After the destruction of the Hsi-Hsia Xi Xia dynasty by the Mongols in 1227, it Yinchuan came under the rule of the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty. Under the Ming (1368–1644) and Ch’ing Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, it was the fu (seat of the prefecture ) of Ning-hsiaNingxia. In 19281929, when the province of Ning-hsia Ningxia was formed from parts of Kansu Gansu and Inner Mongolia, it became the capital city. In 1954, when Ning-hsia Ningxia province was abolished, the city was put in Kansu Gansu province; but, with the establishment of the Ningsia Hui autonomous region Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia in 1958, Yin-ch’uan Yinchuan once again became the capital.

Traditionally, Yin-ch’uan Yinchuan was an administrative and commercial centre. In the 1950s it had many commercial enterprises, and there were some handicrafts but no modern industry. The city has since grown considerably. Extensive coal deposits discovered on the eastern bank of the Huang Ho, near Shih-tsui-shan, However, the city subsequently grew considerably. Beginning in the late 1950s, some of the factories located in the eastern provinces along the coast were moved to Yinchuan, which initiated the development of a local machine-building industry. In addition, extensive coal deposits were discovered near Shizuishan, about 60 miles (100 km) to the north, have made Shih-tsui-shan making Shizuishan a coal-mining centre. Yin-ch’uan, however, remains largely nonindustrialExploitation of these coal deposits led to the growth of a chemical industry and the construction of thermal power-generating plants in Yinchuan. The production of building materials has become an important component of the local economy. West of the old town and close to the railway station, a new residential district was built with all-new infrastructure.

The immediate plains area around Yinchuan, intensively irrigated by a system developed as long ago as the Han (206 BCAD 220 BCE–220 CE) and T’ang Tang (618–907) dynasties, is extremely productive. Yin-ch’uan Yinchuan is the chief agricultural market and distribution centre for this area and also deals in agricultural and animal products from the farms and ranches and from the herds tended by nomads in the surrounding grasslands. It is a market for grain and has flour mills , as well as rice-hulling and oil-extraction plants. The wool produced in the surrounding plains supplies a woolen - textile mill. Yin-ch’uan is a centre for the Muslim (HuiOther farm-derived industries include sugar refining, flax spinning, tanning, and food processing. In addition to wool, local specialties include the fruit of the Chinese wolfberry and facai (black moss), a kind of fungus served in Chinese cuisine, notably at the New Year.


Yinchuan is a centre for the country’s Hui (Chinese Muslim) minority peoples, who constitute a one-third of the population, and it thus has extensive cultural and economic relations with Islamic countries. Located 22 miles (35 km) east of the city are several imperial mausoleums and many more tombs of princes and dukes of the Xi Xia dynasty; the area has been an archaeological dig site since the early 1970s. Ningxia University (founded 1958; established as a university 1962) and other institutions of higher learning are located in the city. Pop. (1989 2002 est.) 329,600.city, 535,743; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 991,000.