Historic city · Cultural centre · Ningxia
Wuzhong
吴忠
Hui heartland on the Yellow River canals
Wuzhong is a prefecture-level city on the Yellow River south of Yinchuan and one of the centres of Hui Muslim culture in China. It includes the gorge of Qingtongxia, where the ancient Qin and Han irrigation canals take their water from the river, the 108 Stupas on the gorge's western bank, and the Ming-era Great Mosque of Tongxin.
Key facts
Overview
Wuzhong spreads along the Yellow River where it leaves the Qingtongxia gorge and enters the northern plain. The canals that begin here — among them the Qin canal and the Han canal — have watered the plain for two thousand years, making the area a rice- and wheat-growing oasis.
The city's population is roughly half Hui, and its mosques, halal food industry and Sufi traditions make it one of the cultural centres of Chinese Islam. Its counties reach east into the steppe of Yanchi, home of the Tan sheep, and south into the dry hills of Tongxin.
Names and nicknames
金积
Name of the nineteenth-century stronghold Jinjipu in today's Litong district, centre of the Hui rising of the 1860s.
吴忠早茶
“Wuzhong morning tea”
Not a nickname but the city's best-known custom: a leisurely Hui breakfast of tea, noodles, dumplings and lamb.
History
The canals at Qingtongxia date back to the Qin and Han. The 108 Stupas, set in a triangle on the hillside, are generally dated to the Western Xia period. In the 1860s Jinjipu, near today's Litong district, was the base of Ma Hualong, leader of the Jahriyya Sufi order, during the Hui rising; it fell to Qing forces in 1871. In 1936 the Red Army set up a Hui autonomous county government at Tongxin.
3rd–2nd century BCE
Qin and Han canals
The first irrigation canals of the Ningxia plain were dug here.
c. 11th–13th century
108 Stupas
A triangle of 108 small brick stupas was built on the western bank of the Qingtongxia gorge, generally attributed to the Western Xia.
1871
Fall of Jinjipu
Qing troops captured the Hui stronghold after a long siege.
1936
Yuhai county Hui autonomous government
Established at the Tongxin Great Mosque during the Red Army's western expedition.
1978
Qingtongxia dam
The dam and hydropower station completed at the gorge regulate the canal system.
Landmarks
Temple or shrine
108 Stupas
一百零八塔
White stupas arranged in twelve rows on a slope above the Yellow River in Qingtongxia.
Temple or shrine
Tongxin Great Mosque
同心清真大寺
The oldest surviving mosque in Ningxia, built in Chinese style on a high brick platform.
Nature
Qingtongxia Gorge
青铜峡
The Yellow River gorge and dam at the head of the irrigation canals.
Neighbourhoods
Litong
利通区
The central district, with the morning-tea restaurants and mosques.
Yanchi
盐池
Steppe county on the Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia borders with Ming Great Wall remains.
Food
Hand-held lamb
手抓羊肉
Yanchi Tan-sheep lamb, boiled and eaten with the hands.
Morning tea
吴忠早茶
Eight-treasure tea with steamed dumplings, lamb noodles and fried bread.
Culture
Wuzhong is one of the centres of the Hui in China, with mosques in almost every village and Sufi tomb shrines (gongbei). The halal food industry, from lamb to dairy and baked goods, is an important employer, and local breakfast culture is famous across Ningxia.
Getting around
- Wuzhong station is on the high-speed line between Yinchuan and Zhongwei and on conventional lines south to Tongxin and Baoji.
- Qingtongxia and the 108 Stupas are reached by road, west of the city.
Day trips
Yellow River gorge
黄河大峡谷
Boat trips on the reservoir above the Qingtongxia dam lead to the 108 Stupas.
Haba Lake
哈巴湖
A nature reserve of lakes, sand and steppe in Yanchi county.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Wuzhong Municipal People's Government — Wuzhong 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)