Under general Meng Tian, the Qin captured the area of Zhongwei and established the Beidi Commandery. In 205 BC a city built at the current location of Zhongwei urban area, which would grow as irrigation systems were built to allow farming.[7]
In 1226 Genghis Khan captured Zhongwei; and in 1403 the city was named Zhongwei, part of Shaanxi.[7]
In 1920 Zhongwei was struck by the Haiyuan earthquake; and in 1926 the highway from Lanzhou to Zhongwei opened.[7]
Tourism
Zhongwei's main attraction is Gao Miao, a temple that has hosted Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist ceremonies. A bomb shelter was also built beneath the temple during the Cultural Revolution. It has since been converted into a rendition of a Buddhist hell.[8] The prefecture is also the location of the beginning of the northern bend in the Yellow River that produces the Ordos Loop. A drum tower is located in the city center.[9]
Zhongwei is located on the northern banks of the Yellow River and bordered directly by the Tengger Desert in the north.[9] The city has been battling desertification since the 1950s.[10] Using straw checkerboard patterns the advance of sand dunes is stopped.[11][12]
Climate
Climate data for Zhongwei, elevation 1,227 m (4,026 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
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