Get to know Yongdeng County
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- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Lanzhou
- Chinese name
- 永登县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 6,090.00 km²
- Population · 2020
- 530,000
- Administrative seat
- Chengguan
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
History
In 81 BC the Han founded Jincheng Commandery (金城郡) and set up four counties within today's Yongdeng, among them Lingju (令居) and Haomen (浩亹). In 316 a county named Yongdeng was carved out of Lingju and Zhiyang (枝阳), and Guangwu Commandery (广武郡) was set up. The area was Zhuanglang County (庄浪县) under the Yuan and a Zhuanglang garrison under the Ming; under the Qing it became Pingfan County (平番县), which was renamed Yongdeng in 1927.
What to see
The Lu Chieftain's Yamen (鲁土司衙门旧址) in Liancheng village has been a national key protected site since 1996. The Lu line traced its descent from Tuohuan (脱欢), a Yuan prince who submitted to the Ming and was settled at Liancheng; his grandson received the surname Lu from the Yongle emperor, and nineteen generations held the post until it was abolished in 1931. The yamen was first built in 1378, and its protected area also takes in the Xianjiao Temple (显教寺) and the Leitan (雷坛, "thunder altar").
Beside it stands Miaoyin Temple (妙因寺), a Gelug Tibetan Buddhist temple built in 1427 and named Datong Temple by imperial grant in 1442. Its Wansui Hall (万岁殿), the oldest surviving building, keeps a ceiling of 168 painted panels judged to be Ming work, and the ceiling of the Dorjechang Hall (多杰羌殿), built in 1471, carries 196 mandalas.
Food and local products
For the Mid-Autumn Festival, households in Datong, Pingcheng and Hongcheng make steamed thousand-layer mooncakes (千层蒸月饼): thin sheets of dough are brushed with flax-seed oil, layered with homemade rose jam and three coloured natural flavourings, xiangdou, turmeric and red yeast rice, and steamed for forty minutes. Kushui town (苦水镇) grows roses on 100,000 mu and makes rose oil, flower cakes and rose tea from them. Other local products named by the county are Pingcheng seed potatoes grown at 2,700 metres, Yongdeng Qishan sheep (永登七山羊) and rainbow trout raised in spring water at Mancheng village.
Highlights
- Lu Chieftain's Yamen 鲁土司衙门旧址: Seat of the Lu chieftains from 1378; national key protected site since 1996.
- Miaoyin Temple 妙因寺: Gelug temple of 1427 beside the yamen, with painted Ming ceiling panels.
- Steamed thousand-layer mooncake 千层蒸月饼: Layered with rose jam and three coloured natural flavourings and steamed for forty minutes.
- Kushui roses 苦水玫瑰: Grown on 100,000 mu in Kushui and made into rose oil, flower cakes and tea.
Sources for this guide
永登县 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
永登的中秋：从烟火到远方 · Yongdeng County People's Government
永登县：特色产业绘就乡村振兴“丰”景图 · Yongdeng County People's Government
鲁土司衙门旧址 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
妙因寺 (永登县) · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Yongdeng County
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Yongdeng County
Lanzhou Ink-Wash Danxia Landform · 兰州水墨丹霞Lanzhou Ink-Wash Danxia Landform兰州水墨丹霞
Lanzhou Shuimo Danxia (兰州水墨丹霞) is a scenic area in Shuping town, Yongdeng County, Lanzhou, Gansu, built on a large expanse of coloured-hill landform. The Xinhua dispatch describes the formation as mainly coloured hills with danxia secondary, and the scenic area opened in 2023.
Read the place guide →
Former Yamen of the Lu Chieftains · 鲁土司衙门旧址Former Yamen of the Lu Chieftains鲁土司衙门旧址
Former seat of the Lu chieftains at Liancheng, Yongdeng, Gansu, founded 1378, with the family's Miaoyin and Xianjiao temples and a 1555 Taoist shrine.
Read the place guide →
AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非该地点实拍）Tulugou National Forest Park吐鲁沟
Tulugou (吐鲁沟) is a national forest park in the Liancheng forest area of Yongdeng County, Lanzhou, Gansu, 160 kilometres from Lanzhou. A Lanzhou Morning Post feature describes it as Gansu's first forest park, opened as a forest scenic tourist area in 1984, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism lists it on one of its Gansu rural tourism routes.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Yongdeng County is about 110 km in a straight line from central Lanzhou. Search for 永登县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Lanzhou Ink-Wash Danxia Landform and Former Yamen of the Lu Chieftains are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Lanzhou →More in Lanzhou
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 永登县 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 鲁土司衙门旧址 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 妙因寺 (永登县) — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Lanzhou Ink-Wash Danxia Landform · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Former Yamen of the Lu Chieftains · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.