Ningxia ( ; Postal map spelling:
Ningsia), full name Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
( ), is a Hui autonomous region of the People's
Republic of China
, located on the northwest Loess highland
, the Yellow
River
flows through a vast area of its land. The
Great Wall of China runs along
its northeastern boundary. Ningxia is the home of the
Hui, one of the officially recognized
Nationalities of China.
The capital of the
region is Yinchuan
.
Ningxia is
bounded by Shaanxi
and Gansu
provinces
and Inner Mongolia autonomous region
and has an area of 66,400 sq km.Formerly a
province, Ningxia was incorporated into
Gansu in 1954 but was detached and reconstituted as an autonomous
region for the Hui people in 1958. In 1969, Ningxia received a part
of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, but this area was
returned in 1979. It is nearly coextensive with the ancient kingdom
of the
Tangut people, whose capital was
captured by
Genghis Khan in the early
13th century. The region is mostly desert and is sparsely settled,
but the vast plain of the Yellow River in the north has been
irrigated for centuries; over the years an extensive system of
canals has been built. Desert and grazing land make up most of the
area. Extensive
land reclamation
and
irrigation projects have increased
cultivation. The northern section, through which the Yellow River
flows, is the best agricultural land.
One railroad, linking
Lanzhou
with Baotou
, crosses the
region. A highway has been built across the Yellow River at
Yinchuan.
History
Ningxia and its surrounding areas were incorporated into the
Qin Dynasty as early as the third
century BCE. Throughout the
Han Dynasty
and the
Tang Dynasty there were several
large cities established in the region, and by the eleventh century
the
Tangut tribe had established the
Western Xia Dynasty on the outskirts of
the then
Song Dynasty.
It then
came under Mongol domination after Genghis Khan conquered Yinchuan in the early
thirteenth century. After the Mongols departed and its
influences faded, some Turkic-speaking Muslims also began moving
into Ningxia from the west.
In the Muslim
Rebellion of the 19th century, twelve million non-Muslims were
killed by the Hui Muslims for the purpose of developing a Muslim
country on the western bank of the Yellow River (Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia
(excluding the Xinjiang province)), around five million Hui Muslims
in Western China were killed by the
Qing
authorities.
In 1914,
Ningxia was merged with the province of Gansu; in 1928,
however, it was detached and became a province. Between 1914
and 1928, the
Xibei San Ma brothers
(literally "three Mas of the northwest") ruled the provinces of
Qinghai, Ningxia and Gansu. In 1958, Ningxia formally became an
autonomous region of
China. In 1969, Ningxia's border was extended to the north and
acquired parts of the
Inner Mongolia
autonomous region, but was reverted again in 1979.
Geography
Ningxia
borders the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, and the
Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region.
Rivers
that flow through Ningxia include the Yellow River.
Ningxia is a relatively dry, desert-like region. There is
significant
irrigation in order to
support the growing of
wolfberries (a
commonly consumed
fruit throughout the
region).
Ningxia's
deserts include the Tengger desert
in Shapotou.
On
16 December 1920,
the Haiyuan
earthquake
, 8.6 magnitude, at , initiated a series of
landslides that killed an estimated 200,000 people. Over 600
large
loess landslides created more than 40
new lakes.
In 2006,
satellite images indicated that a 700 by 200-meter fenced area
within Ningxia—5 km southwest of Yinchuan, near the remote village of Huangyangtan—is a near-exact 1:500 scale
terrain model reproduction of a 450 by 350-kilometer area of
Aksai
Chin
bordering India
, complete
with mountains, valleys, lakes and hills. Its purpose is as
yet unknown.
Climate
The region is 1,200
km from the sea
and has a
continental climate
with average summer temperatures rising to between 17 and
24
°C in July and average winter temperatures
dropping to between -7 and -10°C in January. Seasonal extreme
temperatures can reach 39°C in summer and -30°C in winter. The
diurnal temperature variation in summer is 17°C.
Annual rainfall averages from 190 to 700
millimeters, with more rain falling in the south
of the region.
Environment
Governance
The politics of Ningxia is structured in a dual party-government
system like all other governing institutions in
mainland China.
The Chairman of the Autonomous Region is the highest ranking
official in the People's Government of Ningxia. However, in the
Autonomous Region's dual party-government governing system, the
Chairman has less power than the
Communist Party of China Ningxia
Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Ningxia
CPC Party Chief".
Ningxia
has a friendship agreement with Sogn og Fjordane
county of Norway.
Administrative divisions
Ningxia is divided into five
prefecture-level cities:
Economy
Ningxia is the province with the third smallest GDP (
Tibet being the last) in the PRC.
Its nominal GDP in 2008 was just 109.85 billion yuan (US$15.8
billion) and a per capita GDP of 17,892 yuan (US$2,576). It
contributes 0.3% of the
national
economy.
Ningxia is the principal region of China where
wolfberries are grown.
Yinchuan Economic and
Technological Development Zone: established in 1992
spanning 32 km2, annual economic output Rmb23.7 billion (25.1% up)
(US$3.5 billion) Major investors: Mainly local enterprises such as
Kocel Steel Foundry, FAG Railway Bearing (Ningxia), Ningxia Little
Giant Machine Tools, etc. Major industries: Machinery and equipment
manufacturing, new materials, fine chemicals and the animation
industry
Desheng Industrial Park (in
Helan County), is a base for about 400
enterprises. The industrial park has industrial chains from Muslim
food and commodities to trade and logistics, new materials and
bio-pharmaceuticals that has 80 billion yuan in fixed assets.
Desheng is looking to be the most promising industrial park in the
city. It achieved a total output value of 4.85 billion in 2008, up
40 percent year-on-year. The local government plans to cut taxes
and other fees to reduce the burden on local enterprises. The
industrial output value reached 2.68 billion yuan in 2008, an
increase of 48 percent from a year earlier.
Transport
Airports
Highways
Bridge
Rail
Universities
See
List of
universities and colleges in Ningxia
Hospitals
- People's Hospital of Ningxia
- Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Ningxia
- Ningxia Medical College affiliated Hospital
- Yinchuan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Yinchuan People's Hospital
- Yinchuan Stomatological Hospital
- Yinchuan Women and Children's Healthcare Center
- Women and Children's Healthcare Center of Ningixa
- Yinchuan No.1 People's Hospital
- Yinchuan No.2 People's Hospital
- Yinchuan No.3 People's Hospital
- Shizuishan No.2 People's Hospital
- Guyuan Hospital of Ningxia
Tourism
One of
Ningxia's main tourist spots is the famous Xixia Tombs site located 30 km west of
Yinchuan. The remnants of nine
Western Xia emperors' tombs and two
hundred other tombs lie within a 50-
km² area.
Other famous sites in Ningxia include
Helan
Shan
, the mysterious 108 dagobas,
the twin pagodas of Baisikou and the desert research outpost at
Shapatou.
Museums
Gallery
Image:Xixia_tombs.JPG |
Western Xia
Tombs
Image:Helanshan.jpg |From a cable car
running to the top of Helan
ShanImage:Yinchuan_aerial.JPG |Aerial view of
YinchuanImage:Yinchuan_square.JPG |People's Square in
YinchuanImage:Yinchuan_fountain.JPG|Fountain in
Yinchuan
Image:108_Dagobas.JPG |The 108 dagoba near Qingtongxia
Image:Rich Nature Wolfberry Farm1
7-06.jpg|
Wolfberry harvest
celebration
Notes
-
http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/study/islam/historical_interaction/overviews/history_hui_muslims_china.html?query=Historical+Sketch+of+the+Hui+Muslims+of+China
- Close, U., and McCormick (1922) "Where the mountains walked"
National Geographic Magazine 41(5): pp.445–464.
- Feng, X. and Guo, A. (1985) "Earthquake landslides in China" In
Proceedings, IVth International Conference and Field Workshop
on Landslides pp. 339–346, Japan Landslide Society, Tokyo,
OCLC
70324350.
- Haines, Lester (19
July 2006). "Chinese black helicopters circle Google
Earth". The Register
- Cassidy, Katherine (13 September 2006). "Armchair Sleuths Uncover Strange Military Sites in
China". McClatchy Newspapers / Real Cities
Network.
- Ningxia og Sogn og Fjordane eit steg vidare på
samarbeidsvegen
- http://www.ycda.gov.cn - 银川经济技术开发区银川高新技术产业开发区
References
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