Dìngyuǎn

Dingyuan stood on the Jialing River north of Hezhou. Its earlier seat grew from a mountain fortress built during the Mongol campaigns against the Southern Song. After the conquest, the military settlement became the centre of Dingyuan, with walls following the steep ground above the river. By the middle of the Ming, the old site had become difficult to inhabit. In 1551 the county seat was moved downstream to Miao'erba, where it remained throughout the rest of the Ming and Qing. The older fortress continued as a market settlement, while the new town became the centre of county administration.