Nínghuà

Ninghua stands in northern Shanxi near the upper course of the Fen River. Its fortified settlement occupied an old site associated with an imperial palace of the Sui. In the early Ming a military garrison was established here, and a new walled town was built against the hillside in 1369. The garrison formed part of the defensive network around Ningwu, with smaller forts and stockades spread across the neighbouring mountain country.