Shénmù

Shenmu lies in the northern Shaanxi borderlands, west of the Yellow River. Nearby stood the old city of Linzhou, later called Yang Family City after a line of frontier commanders. Local tradition also associated the name Shenmu, or sacred trees, with three ancient pines outside the city walls. In the Ming period the old Linzhou site was abandoned, while Shenmu and its outlying forts formed part of the frontier defences. Walls and beacon towers were added to the garrisons in the fifteenth century.