Zhongwei City

Zhongwei (中卫; zhōng wèi in pinyin) is a city located in the central western part of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It has long enjoyed the reputation of being a land flowing with rice and honey (鱼米之乡; meaning an abundant place in Chinese). Situated at the intersection point of Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia, Zhongwei is the youngest prefecture-level city in Ningxia with a total area of 16,986 sq. km. (6,558 sq. mi.) and a population of a little more than one million, administering six towns and eleven villages.

Zhongwei has an abundant deposit of natural resources such as gesso, silica, coal, clay, limestone, gold, silver, copper, and iron, etc. The reserve of gesso reaches seven billion, clay five billion and silica 0.1 billion. Coal reserve is relatively large with a volume of 1.2 billion and high quality anthracite is produced on an deposit area of 200 sq.km. (77 sq. mi.) Daliushu water conservancy project contributes a lot to the generating of electricity. With the water of the Yellow River, large tracts of farmland is irrigated and a variety of cash crops is cultivated.

Many famous tourist attractions can be found here in Zhongwei. Shapotou Tourist Zone, a 5A level National Scenic Area is a good example among them. It’s a place where you can both appreciate the wonderful sand view and at the same time have an extraordinary experience of sliding down from the dizzy sand dune, crossing the Yellow river from the scenic area by cableway or by sheepskin raft. Tengger Desert which joins the border of Ningxia at Zhongwei city has spectacular desert view and offers many entertainment opportunities such as riding camels in the desert and camping. Besides, Zhongwei Gaomiao Temple which combines the elements of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism is also a popular tourist spot for its unique architectural style and ghostly underground palace.

While visiting Zhongwei, you are endowed with a wide selection of delicious food and snacks which are reasonably priced and are served very quickly. More than thirty kinds of snacks are placed on the list of people’s favorite such as eggs cooked in raw spirit and date cake soaked in goat milk.