Guyuan city is located at the Liupan Mountain area of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, neighboring Qingyang city and Pingliang city of Gansu province to the east, Baiyin city to the west and Zhongwei city and Wuzhong city to the north.
Guyuan covers an area of 10,500 square kilometers, of which 52.33 square kilometers are urban. The city is in the center of the triangle composed of Xi'an, Lanzhou and Yinchuan, which is one of the 179 national road transportation hubs.
Guyuan is China's largest residential area of the Hui ethnic group. The city is one of the four major potato planting bases in China, a characteristic nursery stock base in Northern China, the northwest characteristic agricultural products distribution center, the demonstration product base zone of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the origin of square chess. Guyuan is also a famous red tourism city.
Guyuan has a long history stretching back into the origins of ancient Chinese culture. Majiayao culture and Qijia culture are two ancient cultures prevalent in Guyuan, which is also an integration area of grassland nomad culture and central plains agricultural culture.
In October 1953, the Xihaigu Hui autonomous region, consisting of the three counties of Xiji, Haiyuan and Guyuan, was established. In 1955, it changed to Guyuan Hui autonomous prefecture, administrated by Gansu province. In 1958, Guyuan Hui autonomous prefecture together with Longde county and Jingyuan county were merged into Ningxia to become the Guyuan special area. In 1979, the Guyuan regional administration department was set up. On July 7, 2001, as approved by the State Council, Guyuan county became Yuanzhou district.
Climate
Guyuan is in a warm-temperature and semi-arid climate area of the Loess Plateau, giving it a typical continental monsoon climate.
Rivers
There are a number of rivers in Guyuan, such as the Qingshui, the Jing and the Hulu. Their average annual runoff is 728 million cubic meters, and total groundwater reserves are about 324 million cubic meters. Two hundred and forty-four million cubic meters can be developed and utilized.
Plants and animals
Precious plants and animals of Guyuan include sea-buckthorn, hair weeds, Astragalus, leopards, forest musk deer, golden eagles and red belly chickens.
Mineral resources
There are 29 mineral species in Guyuan, eight of which have been developed and utilized, including coal, limestone, gypsum and building stones. The proven minerals include petroleum, natural gas, coal, halite, gypsum and quartz sand. Petroleum reserves are 490 million tons, coal reserves are 700 million tons, quartz sand reserves are 2 billion tons and limestone reserves are 220 million tons.