Historic city · Ningxia
Guyuan
固原
Frontier city of the Xiao Pass and the Xumishan grottoes
Guyuan is a prefecture-level city in the loess uplands of southern Ningxia, at the foot of the Liupan Mountains. It guarded the Xiao Pass on the road from Chang'an to the north-west and has yielded rich finds of Silk Road trade, including Sasanian silver and glass; the Buddhist caves of Xumishan lie in its hills.
Key facts
Overview
Guyuan lies at about 1,700 m on the Qingshui River, in the region of dry hills known as Xihaigu. For the Han and Tang it was a key frontier post controlling the route from the Wei valley north-west to the Hexi Corridor and the steppe, and Sogdian merchant families settled here.
The prefecture was long one of the poorest in China. Since the 1980s large programmes of terracing, reforestation and resettlement have changed the landscape, and the Liupan Mountains, cooler and wetter than their surroundings, are protected as a forest reserve.
Names and nicknames
原州
The name of the prefecture from the Northern Wei to the Song; the central district still bears it.
萧关
The frontier pass north of Chang'an, one of the four passes enclosing Guanzhong, located in the Guyuan area.
History
The Warring States Qin built a wall through the area, and the Han administered it as part of Anding commandery. In the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou it was an important military city, and the tomb of the Northern Zhou general Li Xian, excavated in 1983, contained a gilt silver ewer of Central Asian workmanship and a Sasanian glass bowl. The Tang period cemetery of the Shi family, Sogdians from Central Asia, has also been excavated. According to the History of Yuan, Genghis Khan spent the summer of 1227 in the Liupan Mountains shortly before his death. The Red Army crossed the Liupan Mountains in October 1935 during the last stage of the Long March.
3rd century BCE
Qin wall
Remains of the Warring States Qin Great Wall run through the city's territory.
569
Tomb of Li Xian
The Northern Zhou general's tomb held imported Central Asian and Persian treasures, now in the Guyuan Museum.
5th–9th century
Xumishan grottoes
More than a hundred caves were cut from the Northern Wei to the Tang, including a Maitreya about 20 metres tall.
1227
Genghis Khan in the Liupan Mountains
The Mongol ruler spent his last summer in the area during the campaign against the Western Xia, according to the History of Yuan.
October 1935
Long March crosses the Liupan Mountains
The Central Red Army passed through on its way to northern Shaanxi.
Landmarks
Temple or shrine
Xumishan Grottoes
须弥山石窟
Buddhist caves in red sandstone hills north-west of the city, with a large Tang seated Maitreya in the open.
Museum
Guyuan Museum
固原博物馆
Known for the Silk Road finds from the tombs of Li Xian and the Shi family, and for Northern Wei lacquer coffin paintings.
Nature
Liupan Mountains
六盘山
Forested range south of the city, with the Red Army Long March memorial on its pass.
Neighbourhoods
Yuanzhou
原州区
The central district with remains of the old city walls.
Jingyuan
泾源
Hui county in the Liupan Mountains at the source of the Jing River.
Food
Oat noodles
燕面揉揉
Steamed oat-flour noodles dressed with vinegar and chilli.
Buckwheat hele noodles
荞面饸饹
Pressed buckwheat noodles in lamb broth.
Culture
Guyuan's population is almost half Hui, and its rural culture shares much with the loess hills of eastern Gansu: hua'er singing, cave dwellings in the older villages and oat, buckwheat and potato cooking. The frontier past appears in Tang poetry, where the Xiao Pass is a byword for the distant border.
萧关逢候骑，都护在燕然。Xiāo Guān féng hòu jì, dūhù zài Yānrán.
“At the Xiao Pass I meet a mounted scout: the protector-general, he says, is at Mount Yanran.”
— Wang Wei, “On a Mission to the Frontier” (使至塞上), 737
Getting around
- Guyuan station is on the Baoji–Zhongwei railway; Guyuan Liupanshan Airport has domestic flights.
- Xumishan and the Liupan Mountains are reached by road from the city.
Day trips
Laolongtan
老龙潭
Gorge and pools at the source of the Jing River in Jingyuan county.
Huoshizhai
火石寨
Red Danxia cliffs with cave temples in Xiji county.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Guyuan Municipal People's Government — Guyuan Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Ningxia — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)