Yinchuan; Tangut Capital, Rock Art and a Plain That Cracked in 1739

Yinchuan was the capital of the Tangut Western Xia from 1038, and its nine imperial tombs joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in July 2025, according to Xinhua. Under the city, the plain had ruptured in 1739.

银川自一零三八年起是党项西夏的都城,据新华社介绍,境内九座帝陵二零二五年七月列入世界遗产名录。而在这座城市脚下,平原曾在一七三九年裂开。

Today it is the capital of Ningxia, with 2.94 million residents and a gallery of carved stone in the mountains behind it.

如今它是宁夏首府,常住人口二百九十四万,城后的山里还有一座刻在石头上的画廊。

The Western Xia dynasty was founded here in 1038 by Li Yuanhao, with Xingqing Prefecture, present-day Yinchuan, as its capital, and it fell to Genghis Khan’s Mongol forces in 1227, according to Xinhua.

据新华社介绍,西夏由李元昊于一零三八年在此建国,以兴庆府,即今天的银川,为都城,一二二七年亡于成吉思汗的蒙古军。

The listing covers 9 imperial tombs, 271 satellite tombs, a large architectural site to the north and 32 flood-control sites, according to the same source. The first excavation took place in 1972, and the inscription on 11 July 2025 made it China’s 60th World Heritage site, according to the same source.

据同一来源介绍,申遗范围包括九座帝陵、二百七十一座陪葬墓、北部一处大型建筑遗址和三十二处防洪工程遗址。同一来源介绍,首次考古发掘在一九七二年,二零二五年七月十一日列入名录,成为中国第六十处世界遗产。

The carvings of the Helan Mountains are between 3,000 and 10,000 years old and show daily life, patterns and abstract symbols, according to Xinhua. The best known is the “Sun God” at Helankou, and Yinchuan set up a rock-art management office there in 2002, according to the same source. In July 2025 staff made digital rubbings and scanned Helankou in high precision, and marked the carvings with red points so that visitors can find them without touching the stone, according to the same source.

据新华社介绍,贺兰山岩画距今三千到一万年,刻的是日常生活、图案和抽象符号。同一来源介绍,最有名的是贺兰口的”太阳神”,银川二零零二年在此设立了岩画管理机构。同一来源介绍,二零二五年七月,工作人员制作了数字拓片,对贺兰口做了高精度扫描,并用红色标记点指示岩画位置,让游客不碰石头也能找到。

The ground under the city is less gentle. A 2016 study in the Journal of Geophysical Research found that the 1739 earthquake ruptured about 87 kilometres of the Yinchuan Graben, with a maximum throw of 5.1 metres, according to Middleton and colleagues. Really? Earlier estimates put the magnitude near 8.0, but the study argues for 7.1 to 7.6, finding that soft sediments in the graben amplified the shaking and led to overestimates based on historical damage, according to the same paper.

城下的地并不温和。据米德尔顿等人在《地球物理研究杂志》二零一六年发表的研究,一七三九年的地震使银川地堑破裂约八十七公里,最大断距五点一米。真的吗?据同一论文介绍,早先的估计把震级定在八点零左右,但研究认为是七点一到七点六,并发现地堑中的松软沉积物放大了震动,导致根据历史灾情得出的震级偏高。

Yinchuan hosts the China–Arab States Expo, whose seventh edition ran from 28 to 31 August 2025 with the United Arab Emirates as guest of honour and Xinjiang as theme province, according to China Daily. It produced 331 cooperation outcomes with an intended value of ¥107.75 billion, according to the same source. Of those, 86 international projects with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco and Qatar had an intended value of ¥46.47 billion, according to the same source.

银川是中国—阿拉伯国家博览会的举办地,据中国日报介绍,第七届于二零二五年八月二十八日至三十一日举行,阿联酋为主宾国,新疆为主题省。同一来源介绍,博览会达成三百三十一项合作成果,意向金额一千零七十七点五亿元。据同一来源介绍,其中与沙特、科威特、埃及、摩洛哥、卡塔尔等国达成的八十六个国际项目,意向金额四百六十四点七亿元。

In 2025 GDP was ¥303.352 billion, up 5.3 percent in real terms, with services accounting for 50.9 percent and the secondary sector for 45.7 percent, and GDP per head was ¥103,579, according to the 2025 communiqué. The permanent population was 2.9426 million, up 27,900, and 84.18 percent of it lived in the urban area, according to the same source. Hui people made up 25.09 percent of residents in the 2022 bulletin, and 12.79 percent were aged 60 or over at the 2020 census, according to Hongheiku.

据二零二五年统计公报,二零二五年地区生产总值三千零三十三点五二亿元,按不变价计算增长百分之五点三,第三产业占百分之五十点九,第二产业占百分之四十五点七,人均地区生产总值十万三千五百七十九元。据同一来源介绍,常住人口二百九十四点二六万人,增加二点七九万人,城镇化率百分之八十四点一八。据红黑人口库介绍,二零二二年公报显示回族占常住人口的百分之二十五点零九,二零二零年人口普查六十岁及以上占百分之十二点七九。

Visitors made 53.7636 million domestic trips, spending ¥48.501 billion, and 42,100 inbound trips, up 42.0 percent, according to the 2025 communiqué. Wind and solar generated 20.943 billion kilowatt-hours, up 36.4 percent and 17.2 percent of all power, and high-tech manufacturing grew 20.4 percent, according to the same source.

据二零二五年统计公报,国内游客五千三百七十六万三千六百人次,旅游收入四百八十五点零一亿元,入境游客四点二一万人次,增长百分之四十二点零。据同一来源介绍,风电和光伏发电二百零九点四三亿千瓦时,增长百分之三十六点四,占发电量的百分之十七点二;高技术制造业增长百分之二十点四。

The Baotou–Yinchuan high-speed line opened on 23 December 2025, bringing Baotou to Yinchuan to 2 hours 38 minutes and Yinchuan to Beijing to about six hours, down from 18 to 19 hours, according to China Daily. The Yinchuan–Lanzhou line, completed on 29 December 2022, has cut that trip from about eight hours to under three, according to the same source. The airport handled 4.6914 million passengers in 2025, up 10.4 percent, and rail carried 7.1498 million, according to the 2025 communiqué.

据中国日报介绍,包银高铁二零二五年十二月二十三日开通,包头到银川最快两小时三十八分,银川到北京约六个小时,此前需要十八到十九个小时。据同一来源介绍,二零二二年十二月二十九日全线贯通的银兰高铁,把银川到兰州的行程从约八小时缩短到三小时以内。据二零二五年统计公报,二零二五年机场旅客吞吐量四百六十九点一四万人次,增长百分之十点四,铁路客运量七百一十四点九八万人次。

According to Xinhua, the Western Xia tombs stand at the foot of the Helan Mountains, facing the Yellow River and overlooking the Yinchuan Plain.

据新华社介绍,西夏陵坐落在贺兰山脚下,面朝黄河,俯瞰银川平原。