Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County, referred to as Datong County, also known as “Serkhok County“; It is an autonomous county under jurisdiction of Xining City.
Location
It is located in northeast of Qinghai. It belongs to transition zone of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Loess Plateau, with an altitude of 2280-4622 meters.
The terrain is high in northwest and low in southeast, with a total area of 3090 square kilometers. It was twice named “Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art” by Ministry of Culture.
Best time to travel
From May to November
Local climate
Plateau continental climate
Most popular sites
Sujiapu Ancient City Ancient City of Sujiabao is located in east of Sujiabao Village, Jingyang Town, and is a provincial key cultural relic protection unit. Its castle is 500 meters long from east and west, 400 meters wide from south and north, and its walls are built with rammed earth slabs.
There is a turret foundation on each of four corners. The south wall side of southwestern suburb of city, and the west wall of northwest corner, and the south side of east gate and west gate, each has a horse track about 30 meters long and 3 meters wide leading to the top of city wall. The military equipment of the castle has a rigorous and standardized layout and a large scale. It is only relatively complete ancient castle existing in Qinghai Province.
Ming Great Wall Built in Ming Dynasty, it is the highest and most well-preserved Ming Great Wall site in China, with 50,245 meters in existence. From border of Yan Wang at junction of Datong and Huzhu County in east, and at junction of Datong and Huangzhong district in west, there are rammed earth walls, mountain walls, trenches, beacon towers, wall trenches, stone walls, and Guanbao. It is an important peripheral fortification of Xining Acropolis. It has been included in National Great Wall Protection Plan, focusing on protection, development and utilization.
Guanghui monastery, also known as “Tsenpo Gon Ganden Damcholing”; it is located on north side of Yamenzhuang Village, Dongxia Town, 15 kilometers away from county seat, it has a history of 360 years. It was built in early Qing Dynasty. There are many Buddhist and cultural relics in monastery. Gradually restored to its former prosperity. It has become a place for tourism and worshippers to pray for Buddha
Geography and climate
Datong County is located in Hehuang Valley in east of Qinghai Province, at southern foot of Qilian Mountains, it is at Beichuan River Basin on upper reaches of Huangshui River. County seat Qiaotou Town is 35 kilometers away from Xining City and 60 kilometers away from Xining Airport. The county has a total area of 3093 square kilometers.
Datong County has a plateau continental climate, with an average annual temperature of 4.9 degrees, an extreme maximum temperature of 35.6 degrees, an extreme minimum temperature of -26.1 degrees, and a maximum snow thickness of 18 cm.
The annual precipitation is 523 millimeters, the annual average evaporation is 1763 millimeters. The precipitation is at most in August and at least in December. The frost-free period of the year is about 61-133 days, and the annual average sunshine time is 2553 hours
Population and ethnic groups
As of 2012, total population of Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County is 453,000, including 26 ethnic groups including Han, Hui, Tu, Tibetan, and Mongolian.
The majority of ethnic groups are Han, and there are other ethnic groups such as Hui, Tu, and Tibetan. Among them, Hui account for 27% of the total population and Tu account for 9%.
Religion in Datong County
Datong County has five major religions including Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Catholicism, which are distributed in 14 towns including Chengguan, Tar and Qiaotou.
As of 2009, there were 166,000 religious believers in Datong County, accounting for 37% of total population.
126 venues have been approved for religious activities, including 117 mosques, 2 Taoist temples, 2 Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, 3 Han Buddhist monasteries, and 1 Christian and Catholic venue each. There are 188 religious staff in Datong county, and 126 civil management committees have been established
Brief history
In ancient times, Datong was nomadic area
In Western Han Dynasty, Huns in north and Qiang people in Huangzhong united and captured Hexi Corridor,
In 1st year of Emperor Xuan of Han Dynasty (61 BC), Datong was part of military compound
In 1st year of Taikang, Emperor Wu of Western Jin Dynasty (280 AD), Datong area was under jurisdiction of Xiping County,
At end of Western Jin Dynasty (around 310 AD), Datong area was under jurisdiction of Tuyuhun Kingdom.
During the period of 16 Kingdoms, Datong area was under Kingdom of Nanliang’s (397-414 AD) jurisdiction.
During four to five years of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty (608-609 AD), Datong area was under jurisdiction of central government.
In 3rd year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty (663 AD), Datong area was ruled by Tubo kingdom for nearly 200 years.
In 1004 AD, Xia kingdom was established, and Datong area was under its jurisdiction
In 2nd year of Song Huizong (AD 1103), Datong City was under jurisdiction of Song Dynasty
In 1127 AD, within a hundred years of Southern Song Dynasty, Jin and Xixia ruled eastern part of Qinghai alternately.
At beginning of 13th century, Mongolian kingdom rised, and Datong area was under its jurisdiction.
In 1368 AD, Yuan Dynasty fell, and Datong City began to be under jurisdiction of Ming Dynasty.
In 3rdyear of Emperor Yongzheng (AD 1725), Datong ruled by Qing Dynasty
In 26th year of Emperor Qianlong (AD 1761), Datong County was established
In 1986, Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County was established in original administrative area.
