Get to know Guazhou
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Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Jiuquan
- Chinese name
- 瓜州县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 24,100.00 km²
- Population · 2018
- 128,133
- Administrative seat
- Yuanquan
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
Guazhou is a typical desert-oasis area of irrigated farming. The climate is mid-temperate and arid, with long hours of sun, cold winters and hot summers, strong wind and blowing sand, and wide swings between day and night. Over 1986 to 2005 the county averaged 49.2 millimetres of rain a year against 2,577.4 millimetres of evaporation. It has long been called the "wind store of the world" (世界风库); a national extreme-arid desert nature reserve was listed here in 1992.
History
Emperor Wu of Han placed the area under Jiuquan Commandery in 121 BC and in 111 BC set up the counties of Ming'an (冥安), Yuanquan (渊泉) and Guangzhi (广至) under Dunhuang Commandery. The Tang created Guazhou prefecture in 622. Under the Qing it became Anxi prefecture (安西府) in 1759, and in 1913, under the Republic, Anxi County; in August 2006 the county took back the name Guazhou. The county government describes it as the home town of Zhang Zhi (张芝), the calligrapher known as the "sage of cursive script", and as the scene of the last battles of the Western Route Red Army.
What to see
The county has 465 protected immovable heritage sites, ten of them on the national list. Suoyang City (锁阳城) is a World Heritage site. The Yulin Caves (榆林窟), a national key protected site, and the East Thousand Buddha Caves (东千佛洞), which the county calls a treasury of Western Xia art, are compared by the county government with the Mogao Caves, and it names them as the place where the Monkey King first appears. Qiaowan City (桥湾城), nicknamed the "Kangxi dream city", is another historic site. The "Son of the Earth" (大地之子) sculpture has become a popular stop, the county also lists a Gobi sculpture gallery (戈壁雕塑艺术长廊) among its sights, and the Xuanzang Road Gobi challenge (玄奘之路戈壁挑战赛) has been held here for 20 years in a row.
Food and local products
In 2004 the county, then called Anxi, was named a "home of honeydew melon" (中国蜜瓜之乡) and a "home of suoyang" (中国锁阳之乡), suoyang being the desert plant cynomorium. Goji berries and liquorice root are its other local products, and cotton is one of its main rural industries.
Highlights
- Suoyang City 锁阳城: World Heritage site in the county.
- Yulin Caves 榆林窟: National key protected cave temple site compared by the county with Mogao.
- East Thousand Buddha Caves 东千佛洞: Described by the county as a treasury of Western Xia art.
- Son of the Earth 大地之子: Sculpture named by the county among its popular sights.
- Guazhou honeydew melon 瓜州蜜瓜: The county was named a home of honeydew melon in 2004.
Sources for this guide
瓜州概况 · Guazhou County People's Government
瓜州概况 历史文化 · Guazhou County People's Government
瓜州概况 自然资源 · Guazhou County People's Government
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Guazhou
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Guazhou
The cliff face and cave openings at Yulin Caves. Photograph date recorded by the source: 2012-06-17 11:23:43.Yulin Caves榆林窟
Yulin’s caves occupy opposing cliffs along an elm-lined river gorge south of Guazhou. Their murals and painted figures belong to the same broad artistic world as Dunhuang, yet the narrow river setting gives the complex a…
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The rammed-earth city walls of Suoyang City Ruins, Guazhou County, Jiuquan · 酒泉市瓜州县锁阳城遗址城墙 Source-recorded photograph date: 2016-08-05 18:01:36.Suoyang City Ruins锁阳城遗址
Walled Silk Road city ruins in the Gobi near Guazhou, founded in 295 and abandoned under the Ming; World Heritage since 2014.
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AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非该地点实拍）Son of the Earth Sculpture大地之子
Son of the Earth Sculpture (大地之子) is a large outdoor sculpture of a sleeping infant on the Gobi at Guazhou county in Jiuquan, Gansu. It is about 15 metres long, 9 metres wide and 4.3 metres high, is made mainly of red sandstone, and was installed in 2016.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Guazhou is about 80 km in a straight line from central Jiuquan. Search for 瓜州县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Yulin Caves and Suoyang City Ruins are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Jiuquan →More in Jiuquan
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Yulin Caves · Redpipe · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Suoyang City Ruins · Zanhe · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.