:Guazhou County

File:Suoyang_City_12.jpg]]

Emperor Wudi (140-87 BCE) had the Great Wall extended northwestward all the way to the Gate of Jade (Yumen Pass), the westernmost garrison town near Dunhuang. He then set up a system of garrisons all along this part of the Great Wall and put its headquarters in a town called Anxi (“Tranquil West”) and where the northern and southern Silk Routes historically diverged."Liu (2010), p. 10. The name Guazhou (land/prefecture of melons) has a long contentious history; the name first appeared in records from the Warring States period, but Chinese historians have debated (since the 3rd century) whether it referred to a region in modern-day Gansu or Shaanxi. From Northern Wei to Sui dynasty, Guazhou Prefecture contained both modern-day Dunhuang and Guazhou counties; in the Tang dynasty, the western region surrounding Dunhuang was renamed "Western Shazhou" while the region around Anxi was named Guazhou, with both falling under the administrative unit of "Shazhou". Later, Shazhou became the exclusive name of the region around Dunhuang. The naming of these two regions (Shazhou and Guazhou) largely persisted till the Qing dynasty. In the 18th century, the Qing dynasty replaced the regional names "Shazhou" and "Guazhou" with the names of their largest cities, Dunhuang and Anxi. Since the modern era, Dunhuang County continues to be the name for the western county; however, Anxi County decided to revert to the Guazhou name in 2006 due to its greater recognizability in historical texts, with tourism in mind.{{cite web | url=https://history.ifeng.com/c/7ucwyOgANU3 | title=甘肃省的一个县，2006年改名，使用了一千多年前的叫法 }}

Guazhou County is divided to 9 towns, 1 ethnic town, 2 townships, 3 ethnic townships and 1 other.{{cite web

|url = http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/tjbz/tjyqhdmhcxhfdm/2019/

|title = 统计用区划代码 www.stats.gov.cn

|publisher = XZQH

|language = zh

|access-date = 2020-12-27}}

;Towns

;Ethnic towns

• Yaozhanzi Dongxiang Ethnic Town ({{lang|zh-Hans|腰站子东乡族镇}})

;Townships

• Bulongji Township ({{lang|zh-Hans|布隆吉乡}})
• Lianghu Township ({{lang|zh-Hans|梁湖乡}})

;Ethnic townships

• Qidun Hui and Dongxiang Ethnic Township ({{lang|zh-Hans|七墩回族东乡族乡}})
• Guangzhi Tibetan Ethnic Township ({{lang|zh-Hans|广至藏族乡}})
• Shahe Hui Ethnic Township ({{lang|zh-Hans|沙河回族乡}})

;Others

• State-owned Xiaowan Farm ({{lang|zh-Hans|国营小宛农场}})

{{Weather box|width=auto

|metric first=y

|single line=y

|collapsed = Y

|location = Guazhou, elevation {{convert|1171|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals)

|Jan high C = -1.1

|Feb high C = 5.7

|Mar high C = 13.7

|Apr high C = 21.7

|May high C = 27.2

|Jun high C = 31.4

|Jul high C = 33.0

|Aug high C = 31.6

|Sep high C = 26.8

|Oct high C = 19.0

|Nov high C = 8.8

|Dec high C = 0.1

|Jan mean C = -9.3

|Feb mean C = -3.2

|Mar mean C = 4.7

|Apr mean C = 12.9

|May mean C = 18.9

|Jun mean C = 23.7

|Jul mean C = 25.3

|Aug mean C = 23.5

|Sep mean C = 17.5

|Oct mean C = 8.8

|Nov mean C = -0.1

|Dec mean C = -7.8

|Jan low C = -15.3

|Feb low C = -10.1

|Mar low C = -2.7

|Apr low C = 4.9

|May low C = 10.8

|Jun low C = 15.9

|Jul low C = 18.2

|Aug low C = 16.7

|Sep low C = 10.4

|Oct low C = 1.8

|Nov low C = -6.1

|Dec low C = -13.4

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 1.5

|Feb precipitation mm = 0.8

|Mar precipitation mm = 2.9

|Apr precipitation mm = 3.6

|May precipitation mm = 4.6

|Jun precipitation mm = 8.4

|Jul precipitation mm = 10.1

|Aug precipitation mm = 9.8

|Sep precipitation mm = 3.7

|Oct precipitation mm = 1.9

|Nov precipitation mm = 1.3

|Dec precipitation mm = 2.1

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 2.1

|Feb precipitation days = 0.8

|Mar precipitation days = 1.6

|Apr precipitation days = 1.6

|May precipitation days = 2.2

|Jun precipitation days = 3.2

|Jul precipitation days = 4.2

|Aug precipitation days = 3.6

|Sep precipitation days = 1.9

|Oct precipitation days = 0.9

|Nov precipitation days = 1.0

|Dec precipitation days = 2.4

|year precipitation days =

|Jan humidity = 55

|Feb humidity = 39

|Mar humidity = 32

|Apr humidity = 28

|May humidity = 28

|Jun humidity = 36

|Jul humidity = 43

|Aug humidity = 43

|Sep humidity = 41

|Oct humidity = 41

|Nov humidity = 49

|Dec humidity = 57

|Jan sun = 210.1

|Feb sun = 216.1

|Mar sun = 259.1

|Apr sun = 280.1

|May sun = 311.5

|Jun sun = 300.9

|Jul sun = 302.8

|Aug sun = 297.8

|Sep sun = 281.6

|Oct sun = 266.0

|Nov sun = 216.6

|Dec sun = 193.7

|year sun =

| Jan percentsun = 70

| Feb percentsun = 71

| Mar percentsun = 69

| Apr percentsun = 70

| May percentsun = 69

| Jun percentsun = 67

| Jul percentsun = 67

| Aug percentsun = 71

| Sep percentsun = 77

| Oct percentsun = 79

| Nov percentsun = 74

| Dec percentsun = 68

| year percentsun =

|Jan snow days = 3.9

|Feb snow days = 1.2

|Mar snow days = 1.6

|Apr snow days = 0.4

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = 0

|Jul snow days = 0

|Aug snow days = 0

|Sep snow days = 0

|Oct snow days = 0.2

|Nov snow days = 1.5

|Dec snow days = 3.5

|year snow days =

|source 1 = China Meteorological Administration{{cite web |url=http://data.cma.cn/data/weatherBk.html |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data |publisher=China Meteorological Administration |language = zh-hans |access-date=24 September 2023}}

{{cite web|url=https://experience.arcgis.com/template/e724038fda394e9d9b7921f10fd1aa55/page/%E7%BA%AF%E8%A1%A8%E6%A0%BC%E7%BB%9F%E8%AE%A1-(%E5%AF%B9%E6%AF%948110%E5%8F%98%E5%8C%96)/?org=UQmaps |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网|publisher=China Meteorological Administration |language = zh-hans | access-date =24 September 2023}}

}}

The county's location is ideally suited for wind farms, earning the nickname "world's wind warehouse".{{cite news|title=Wind power growth in China's deserts ignored financial risks|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/may/14/wind-power-china-desert|work=The Guardian|date=May 14, 2010}} From the east the wind blows through a high, narrow valley formed by the Qilian and Beishan mountains, reaching 8.3 metres per second and energy density of 703 watts per cubic metre.

{{wide image|Gansu.Guazhou.windfarm.croped.jpg|800px|align-cap=center|A local windfarm.}}

The mainline Lanxin Railway and branch line Dunhuang Railway intersect at Liugou Railway Station in the county. Xiaowan and Guazhou are the two other stations on the Dunhuang Railway located in the county.

There are two national highways running through the country, China National Highway 215 (Hongliuyuan) and China National Highway 312 (Hongliuyuan).

• List of administrative divisions of Gansu
• Suoyang City
• Yulin Caves

{{Reflist}}

• Liu, Xinru (2010). The Silk Road in World History. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-533810-2}}.

{{County-level divisions of Gansu}}

{{coord|39|50|0|N|97|34|0|E|type:adm3rd_region:CN-62_source:jawiki|display=title}}

{{authority control}}

Guazhou County

Category:Jiuquan