Jiānzhōu

Jianzhou was established in the mountain country of northern Shanxi when the Jin raised Fanzhi County to the rank of a prefecture. The Yuan retained the name, and its territory lay in the upper Hutuo valley amid the ranges east of Daizhou. Mountain passes linked this frontier country with the plains and with the routes towards Datong. The old name preserved the memory of a short-lived prefectural seat in a region of strategic valleys.