Urumqi is the capital of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the political, economic, cultural, scientific, educational and transportation center of Xinjiang. Xinjiang is located in the northwestern border of China, but it can look at the entire Asian continent but is located in the center. In 1992, the "Tourism Resources and Development of Geographical Centers of the Asian Continent" research group of the Xinjiang Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences determined that the natural geographical geometric center of the Asian continent was 87 degrees 19 minutes 52 seconds east longitude and 43 degrees 40 minutes 37 seconds north latitude. The location of this coordinate orientation on the map is the village of Baojia Trough in Yongfeng Township, Urumqi County, Urumqi City, Xinjiang.
Xinjiang is not a province, but an autonomous region at the same level as a province. Urumqi, the administrative center of the autonomous region, is customarily called the capital. The capital of the autonomous region and the capital of the province are the administrative centers of the administrative region. It is only because China's system of regional ethnic autonomy gives the autonomous region a certain degree of autonomy in legislative and financial powers, so the title of the administrative center of the autonomous region is slightly different from that of the province. The capitals of autonomous regions and provincial capitals are administratively equal, and different names are used only to accommodate the particularities of local ethnic minorities.
This reflects the central authorities' respect for the autonomous region's right to national autonomy and ethnic particularities. This practice of adopting different administrative models for different regions according to their own characteristics is actually ancient. In 60 BC, Emperor Xuan of Han established the Western Regions Capital Protectorate at WuleiCheng (in present-day Luntai County): officially set up officials, garrisons, and administrative orders in the Western Regions, and began to exercise state sovereignty. The move marks Xinjiang officially becoming part of Chinese territory. After the Cao Wei Dynasty Han Dynasty, there was a Western Regions Changshi Mansion in the Western Regions for jurisdiction. In the Tang Dynasty, the two major capitals of Anxi and Beiting were set up in the Western Regions for management.
Successive Dynasties of the Central Plains dynasty in the administration of the Western Regions, out of respect for the local ethnic habits, adopted a different governance model for the Western Regions than the Central Plains Inland: the Central Plains Dynasty did not set up administrative jurisdictions such as the prefectures, counties, and counties in the central Plains, but set up unique administrative jurisdictions such as the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, the Western Regions ChangshiFu, and the Anxi Capital Protectorate. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty formed a situation of feudal division, and at the same time Tubo began to compete with the Tang Dynasty for the western region. By the time of the late Tang Dynasty and the Fifth Dynasty, the central plains had fallen into a state of division.
During the same period, the Western Regions also formed the Khotanese, Qarakhanid, Gaochang Uighur and other separatist regimes. The Song Dynasty, which ended the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, was an introverted dynasty: even the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, which were traditionally based on farming and inhabited by Han Chinese, could not be recovered, so it was even more impossible to open up the desert and the western regions like during the Han and Tang dynasties. The political ties formed between the Central Plains Dynasty and the Western Regions since the Han Dynasty were thus temporarily interrupted. During this period, the political affiliation between the Central Plains and the Western Regions was broken, but the economic and cultural ties between them still existed objectively.
At that time, the khans of the Qarakhanid Dynasty in the western region called themselves "Peach Blossom Stone Khan" or "Lord of the East and Qin". In the Qarakhanid dynasty, Mahmud Kashgari explained in the Great Turkic Dictionary that Qin consisted of peach blossom stones (Song Dynasty, i.e. Song Dynasty), Khitan (Liao Dynasty) and Qarakhanid State. This means that the Qarakhanid Dynasty at that time thought that they were Chinese, and China was composed of the Song, Liao and Qarakhanid dynasties at that time. The Yuan and Ming dynasties controlled eastern Xinjiang and set up Hamiwei here.
During the same period, the central and western regions of Xinjiang were under the rule of the Chagatai Khanate and the Yarkand Khanate, which evolved from its differentiation. In 1680, the Yarkand Khanate, which ruled the central and western regions of present-day Xinjiang, was destroyed by the Dzungar Khanate of Kaldan. The Qing Dynasty lasted for three generations, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, before finally pacifying the Dzungars. In the twentieth year of Qianlong (1755), the Qing army conquered Ili and successfully captured the Dzungar Khan, Choros Dawazi. Thereafter, Alam al-Sana, the grandson of Alamoutan, raised an army to rebel, but was put down by the Qing army in 1757, and the Dzungar Khanate was completely destroyed.
After the Dzungars destroyed the Yarkand Khanate in southern Xinjiang, they detained the Islamic religious leaders of southern Xinjiang, Da, Xiao, and Zhuo, and after the Qing army pacified Dzungars, they released them and sent Polonidu to recruit the cities of the southern Tianshan Road. During the rebellion of the remnants of the Dzungars, Amir Sana took the opportunity to control Kashgar and Yarkand (present-day Shache, Xinjiang). In the twenty-second year of Qianlong (1757), Yamato Zhuo Huo Jizhan killed the deputy capital of the Qing army, Amin Dao, and raised an army to stand on his own. The following year (1758), the Qianlong Emperor sent troops to recruit Dahe Zhuo and engaged Him Zhuo in Kucha, Yeerqiang, and Khotan.
In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong (1759), The Great and Great Forces fled west in defeat and entered the Badak Mountains (in present-day northeastern Afghanistan) through the Onion Ridge, where they were captured and killed by the Leader of the Badak Mountains, Sultansha. At this point, the western regions north and south of the Tianshan Mountains were once again incorporated into the territory of the Central Plains Orthodox Dynasty, and Qianlong was named Xinjiang for the qing dynasty's new territory. During the Qing Dynasty, there were 18 provinces in the Central Plains of Han China, namely Zhili, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou (collectively, the "Eighteen Provinces in the Interior").
In addition, the Qing Dynasty had three general jurisdictions in the northeast, Shengjing, Jilin and Heilongjiang; in Outer Mongolia, it had the jurisdiction of general Ulya Sutai; in Xinjiang, it had the jurisdiction of general Ili; and in Tibet and Qinghai, it had the jurisdiction of the minister of affairs. The Qing Dynasty's rule over Xinjiang was more solid than the han and Tang dynasties. The Qing Dynasty general's garrison was located in the ancient city of Huiyuan in present-day Huocheng County, Ili, Xinjiang. At that time, the capital of Xinjiang was in Ili, not in today's Urumqi. Urumqi's history as the administrative center of Xinjiang is not very long.
However, the history of Urumqi itself is quite long: traces of human activities have appeared in Urumqi as early as the Neolithic period. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the area around present-day Urumqi was the territory of the so-called Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions. After the opening of the Silk Road, Urumqi was at the heart of the Northern Province. In the Tang Dynasty, Ting prefecture (4 counties under its jurisdiction) was established in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains: present-day Urumqi is now Luntai County, one of the four counties. In 1755, the Qing army that marched on Dzungar built a fortification in the area of present-day Jiujiawan in Urumqi.
The officers stationed in the local area referred to the place as "Urumqi" in a letter to the imperial court according to the ancient Dzungar Mongolian word for "beautiful pasture". In the twenty-third year of Qianlong (1758 AD), with the growth of the population and the growing demand for reclamation and commerce, the Qing army stationed in Urumqi built an earthen city outside the present-day South Gate. This five-minute-tall tucheng on Monday is the prototype of today's Urumqi city. In the twenty-eighth year of Qianlong (1763), after expanding the old Tucheng to the north, it reached a circumference of five miles and four minutes.
After the completion of this project, the Qianlong Emperor named the expanded city "Dihua". The so-called "Dihua" means "enlightenment". The original intention of the Qianlong Emperor in taking this name was to enlighten and educate the local ethnic minorities, so that they would henceforth have the heart to respect the king and obey, then naturally there would be no more rebellion. After the Qianlong Emperor named the city "Dihua", the local officials still used the names "Urumqi" and "Dihua" in their letters to the imperial court. It was not until the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong (1773) that Urumqi Tongzhi was officially changed to Dihua Prefecture Zhizhou.
For nearly 200 years after that, Dihua remained the city's official name, but at this time It did not become the administrative center of Xinjiang. After the qing dynasty destroyed the Dzungar Khanate, its territory reached as far as the eastern shore of Lake Balkhash. The land east and south of the lake was under the jurisdiction of General Ili, which means that a considerable part of today's Kazakhstan was within the scope of Xinjiang at that time, and the Ili River Valley was located in the center of Xinjiang at that time. Located in the middle of the country, Ili has a suitable climate and is naturally the best choice for the capital.
In fact, before the arrival of the Qing Dynasty, the ruling center of the Dzungars was located in Ili, so the Manchu Qing court also set the administrative center of Xinjiang in Ili. Today, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which has 1.66 million square kilometers, has the largest land area among China's 34 provincial-level administrative divisions. Xinjiang alone accounts for about one-sixth of China's land area. In recent years, with the increasing popularity of tourism in Xinjiang, people have more personal feelings about the size of Xinjiang. During the Qianlong period, Xinjiang, including Lake Balkhash and other places, was even larger than it is today.
Under the traffic conditions at that time, the Ili General's Mansion in Huiyuan City, Ili, was really unable to control such a vast area of land. In this context, the Qing Dynasty's model of governance of Xinjiang was: General Ili was stationed in Huiyuan as the highest military and political commander in xinjiang, and his subordinate capital and counsellors were stationed in Dihua (present-day Urumqi) and Kashgar respectively. As a result, the three together constitute a strong momentum to jointly govern Xinjiang. At that time, urumqi was not yet the administrative center of the whole of Xinjiang, but it was also a secondary center second only to the capital Ili.
The Sino-Russian Treaty on the Survey and Division of the Northwest Boundary, signed on October 7, 1864, ceded to Tsarist Russia 440,000 square kilometers of Chinese territory east and south of Lake Balkhash and north and south of Jaisannur (present-day Jaisanbo). At this time, the Ili River Valley instantly changed from the original central position of the whole territory to an outpost near the border. At this time, Ili was no longer suitable for existence as an administrative center militarily and economically. So where should The capital of Xinjiang turn? Obviously, Urumqi and Kashgar as sub-centers are the most suitable.
Kashgar is not inferior to Urumqi from a cultural and historical point of view, but Kashgar is geographically too close to southern Xinjiang. On the other hand, Urumqi, as the second largest city in Xinjiang after Ili at that time, was more suitable as the capital than Kashgar in terms of politics, commerce and transportation. In 1865, the Agubai invading army of the Kokand Khanate in Central Asia invaded Xinjiang with the support of the two imperialist powers of Britain and Russia, and six years later, Tsarist Russia also took the opportunity to invade the Ili region, which was the capital of Xinjiang at that time. In the following ten years, the Qing Dynasty could not enter Ili for half a step, so Ili naturally could not play the function of the capital.
In 1878, Zuo Zongtang led an army to recover most of Xinjiang from the Agubai invading army. In 1882, the Qing government reclaimed the Ili region from Tsarist Russia, but the administrative center of Ili was actually replaced by Urumqi. In 1884, the Qing government changed the jurisdiction of the former Ili general to Xinjiang Province. After the establishment of Xinjiang province, the functions of the former General Ili were replaced by the Inspector of Xinjiang in Gansu province of Dihua. Dihua has since replaced Ili as the political center of Xinjiang. In 1885, Dihua Prefecture was upgraded to Dihua Province. During the Republic of China period, Dihua Province was changed to Dihua City.
In fact, Dihua in this period should be called the capital of Xinjiang Province, because since 1884 Xinjiang has been changed to the same provincial structure as the interior. On September 25, 1949, the First Corps of the First Field Army of the People's Liberation Army entered Dihua City under the leadership of General Wang Zhen. Adhering to the policy of ethnic equality, the new Chinese government is determined to bid a complete farewell to the national oppression and ethnic exploitation of the feudal dynasty era. Historically, the rulers of feudal dynasties took a series of place names containing the words "Sui", "Hua", "Ping", "Zhen" and "Xuan" in ethnic minority areas in order to show their authority.
Today's Hohhot is called Guisui in history, today's Dandong is called Andong in history, and Xinjiang Barikun is called Zhenxi in history... New China revised these place names in order to highlight the new atmosphere of national equality. During this process, Dihua reverted to its original name of Urumqi on February 1, 1954. The change of name is a cultural expression of respect for the customs and habits of local ethnic minorities, and the implementation of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy is a political expression of respect for the customs and habits of ethnic minorities. In September 1952, the Second People's Congress of all ethnic groups and all walks of life in Xinjiang Province decided to establish the Preparatory Committee for the Implementation of Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Xinjiang Province.
This organization has carried out three years of preparatory work for regional ethnic autonomy throughout Xinjiang. In September 1955, the 21st session of the Standing Committee of the First National People's Congress deliberated and approved the establishment of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. On October 1, 1955, the establishment of Xinjiang Province was officially abolished, and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was established on the basis of the administrative region of the former Xinjiang Province. In the process, Urumqi changed from a provincial capital to a capital. Today's Urumqi is not the grassland that some people imagine, but a highly modern metropolis, and urumqi people do not ride horses to work.
More than 100 years ago, there were a large number of people from Gansu and other places in Urumqi to do business and work here. At that time, the overland Silk Road in the northwest had been declining, and more of China's exchanges with the outside world had shifted to the eastern coastal region, but the traditional silk horse border trade market with Central Asia still existed. At that time, Urumqi was a large commercial city in China's Xinjiang region and Central Asia for silk horse trade. Before and after the establishment of Xinjiang in 1884, through the implementation of a series of new governance measures by Zuo Zongtang, Liu Jintang and others, urumqi's urban social economy was revived and developed relatively quickly.
With the opening of ports and trade with the outside world and the implementation of the New Deal in Xinjiang, the process of urban modernization in Urumqi was further promoted. From the establishment of Xinjiang province to urumqi during the Republic of China period, industry, commerce, finance, food, clothing, housing, customs, etiquette, and entertainment methods have quietly changed. Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang after the liberation, ushered in a new development opportunity. Today's Urumqi is the second Eurasian land bridgehead of western China and an important gateway for China to open to the west, and is also a national civilized city, a national garden city, a national double-support model city, and an excellent tourist city in China.
In November 2018, Urumqi was selected as one of the top 100 cities in China's comprehensive well-off index, and in December 2018, Urumqi was selected as one of the top 100 best commercial cities in the Chinese mainland of 2018. In December 2019, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission named Urumqi as a "National Ethnic Unity and Progress Demonstration City". Urumqi is a multi-ethnic place: Han Chinese speak Mandarin and Lanyin dialect of northern Xinjiang; Uyghurs generally speak Uyghur and Han chinese. In addition to the Uyghurs and Han Chinese, Urumqi also has Hui, Kazakh, Manchu, Xibe, Mongolian, Tajik, Russian and other ethnic groups.
According to the data of the sixth national census, the Han population in Urumqi is 2331654 (accounting for 74.91% of the total population) and the population of various ethnic minorities is 780905 (accounting for 25.09% of the total population). The 7 ethnic groups living in Urumqi, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Hui, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Tatars, generally believe in Islam; some people in han, Mongolian, Xibe, Daur, and other ethnic groups believe in Buddhism; some people in the Han nationality believe in Taoism, Catholicism, and Christianity; and the Russians mainly believe in Orthodox Christianity.
The Han people living in Urumqi have traditional festivals such as spring festival, dragon boat festival, and mid-autumn festival. The main festivals of the Islamic minorities are Eid al-Adha and Meat Festival: whenever Eid al-Adha and Meat Festival, Uyghur men dance the Sama dance fiercely in the strong rhythm of Nahala drums and chants. The fraternal peoples also have their own unique festivals and celebrations: the Kazakhs celebrate the "Nawuluz" festival every year at the spring equinox; the Mongolians hold the "Naadam" congress every year in July and August; the Tajiks celebrate the "Sowing Festival" every spring...
The cuisine in Xinjiang is usually large plates: large plates of chicken, large plates of belly, large plates of lamb... The weighing here is measured in kilograms, so when eating lamb, it is usually two kilograms first. In Xinjiang, there are many kinds of barbecue foods: kebabs have swept the country, and roasted whole lamb is a famous food in Xinjiang. Crispy and thin roasted buns, baked buns, ramen, oil buns, oil tartars, thin skin buns, and milk tea are also the traditional foods of the local ethnic minorities. Ethnic minorities in pastoral areas can process milk and goat milk into eight or nine kinds of dairy products. There is also a very famous beer in Xinjiang known as "Deadly Great Wusu".
As the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi is an important tourist distribution center and destination in Xinjiang and even the whole country: the culture, art, customs and customs of various ethnic groups constitute a tourism and cultural landscape with national characteristics. Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar, Xinjiang Minjie, Erdaoqiao Ethnic Customs Street and other scenic spots with strong Xinjiang folk customs are well-known at home and abroad. Festivals and exhibitions with Silk Road cultural characteristics, such as the Silk Road Ice and Snow Customs Tour and the Silk Road Costume and Costume Festival, have become Urumqi's unique city business cards.
Urumqi has successfully hosted the International Snow Federation Cross-Country Skiing China Tour, the International Men's Basketball Tournament, the International Youth Football Invitational Tournament, the International Boxing Open, the Women's World Cup Table Tennis Tournament, the World Cup Taekwondo Team Tournament, the Asian Youth Men's Basketball Championship, the Asian Skydiving Championship, the National Windsurfing Championship, the National Archery Championship, the National Speed Skating Championship, the National Women's Handball Championship and other domestic and foreign events. He has created high-quality plays such as "Pomegranate Red" and modern Qin opera "Pomegranate Inn". He has completed the creation and arrangement of the "Kunlun Covenant" live-action drama.
Urumqi has various scientific research institutions with the Xinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Xinjiang Institute of Physics and Chemistry Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At the end of 2019, Urumqi had 80 key laboratories of various types (including 1 at the national level, 43 at the autonomous region level, and 27 at the municipal level), and approved the establishment of 76 engineering technology research centers (including 3 at the national level, 26 at the autonomous region level, and 47 at the municipal level). There are 21 science and technology enterprise incubators in the city (of which 8 have passed the national certification and filing).
Urumqi, as the world's furthest city from the ocean, has a mid-temperate continental arid climate: the hottest month of July and August is 25.7 °C, and the coldest is the average temperature of -15.2 °C in January. Urumqi spring comes late, summer is hot but not stuffy, into the autumn after the weather environment is relatively stable, winter can be as long as 150 days. Although the winter in Urumqi can reach minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius at its coldest, the local heating period is as long as 6 months. The indoor temperature is usually above twenty degrees, so there is basically no need to wear cotton clothes at home.
Urumqi and the mainland are actually two hours apart: the Urumqi region of Xinjiang in the west is actually two hours behind the Beijing time we use in terms of local time. This means that at 7 or 8 p.m. Beijing time, the sun is still shining in Urumqi and Kashgar near dusk. From the 1950s to the 1980s, China used both the "Beijing time" of the Eastern Eighth District and the "Urumqi Time" of the Eastern Sixth District. At that time, the Xinjiang People's Radio broadcast this when it broadcast the hour: "The last ring just now was 10 o'clock Beijing time, and 8 o'clock Urumqi time."