Linxia City
Linxia City (simplified Chinese: 临夏市; traditional Chinese: 臨夏市; pinyin: Línxià Shì, Xiao'erjing: لٍِثِيَا شِ), once known as Hezhou (Chinese: 河州; pinyin: Hézhōu; Wade–Giles: Ho-chou, Xiao'erjing: حَجِوْ), is a county-level city in the province of Gansu, China and the capital of the multi-ethnic Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture. It is located in the valley of the Daxia River (a right tributary of the Yellow River), 150 km (93 mi) (by road) southwest of the provincial capital Lanzhou.
Linxia
临夏市 لٍِثِيَا شِ | |
|---|---|
A view of the city from the northern loess plateau escarpment depicting a Taoist Wanshou Guan temple | |
Linxia Location in Gansu Linxia Location in China | |
| Coordinates (Linxia City government): 35°36′17″N 103°14′32″E | |
| Country | China |
| Province | Gansu |
| Autonomous prefecture | Linxia |
| Municipal seat | Chengnan Subdistrict |
| Area | |
| • Total | 88.6 km2 (34.2 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 1,960 m (6,430 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 1,823 m (5,981 ft) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 355,968 |
| • Density | 4,000/km2 (10,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code | 731100 |
| Website | www |
The population of the entire county-level city of Linxia (which includes both the central city and some rural area) is estimated at 250,000; of which, 58.4% is classified as urban population. According to the prefectural government, 51.4% of Linxia City's population belongs to the "Hui nationality", i.e. the Chinese-speaking Muslims. Some members of Linxia Prefecture other minority ethnic groups, such as Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar, live in the city.
For centuries, Hezhou/Linxia has been one of the main religious, cultural and commercial centers of China's Muslim community, earning itself the nickname of "the little Mecca of China". In the words of the ethnologist Dru Gladney, "Almost every major Islamic movement in China finds its origin among Muslims who came to Linxia disseminating new doctrines after pilgrimage to Middle Eastern Islamic centers". It remains the main center of China's Qadiriyyah and Khufiyya Sufi orders; it was also the home of Ma Mingxin, the founder of the Jahriyya order, although that order's "center of gravity" has shifted elsewhere since.