Yìnglǐ

Yingli lies on the Yellow River where the cultivated plain meets the sands of the northwest. Under Western Xia and the Yuan the district was known as Yingli Zhou. The Ming established Ningxia Central Garrison here in 1403, giving the town the name Zhongwei, and stationed soldiers to defend the river corridor. A Confucian school was established at the garrison in 1439. The Qing retained the military post until it became a county in the Yongzheng reign.