Kāichéng

Kaicheng lies near the Liupan Mountains, on the roads connecting the northwest with the Wei River basin. Under the Yuan it became the seat of a circuit and the site of a summer residence of Manggala, Kublai Khan's son and Prince of Anxi. The palace formed a centre of princely power in the northwest, with substantial buildings set within a walled enclosure. In 1306 an earthquake devastated the palace and surrounding settlements, killing thousands; after Manggala's successor Ananda lost his life in a struggle for the throne, the residence fell into disuse. In the Ming period Kaicheng remained a frontier county, later moving its seat to the old city of Guyuan.