Zhuānglàng

Zhuanglang guards a meeting of routes between Lanzhou, the Huang River valley and the Hexi Corridor. The Yellow River lies to the south, while the old frontier wall runs across the country to the north. The Ming established Zhuanglang Garrison here in 1372, and for a time it housed the regional military command responsible for the western frontier. In 1393 that command moved to Ganzhou. The garrison continued to protect the roads through a district inhabited by several communities, before the Qing reorganised it as Zhuanglang Ting in 1724.