Yinchuan

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Image:Yinchuan.png

Image:Yinchuan location.png Yinchuan (Simplified Chinese: 银川; Traditional Chinese: 銀川; pinyin: Yínchuān) is the capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, and former capital of the Western Xia Empire of the Tanguts.

Area: 4467 km

Population: 736,300

1 Geography
2 Climate
3 Economy
4 Tourism
5 Colleges and universities
6 2006 internet phenomenon
7 References

[edit] Geography

Longitude: 105°49’E - 106°35’E

Latitude: 38°08’N - 38°51’N

[edit] Climate

Not too cold in winter, not too hot in summer. The annual average temperature is 8.5.

Annual average rainfall: 200mm

Annual frost time: 158 days

[edit] Economy

GDP per capita was ¥11975 (ca. US$1450) in 2003, ranked no. 197 among 659 Chinese cities.

Industry: produce bearing

Agriculture: Chinese wolfberry, wheat, apple, rice

[edit] Tourism

Sand-lake, XiXia mausoleum.

Since 2000, Yinchuan has been hosting the annual Yinchuan International Car and Motorcycle Tourism Festival, the biggest event of its kind in China with about 3000 motorcycles attending. It usually takes place in August.

[edit] Colleges and universities

[edit] 2006 internet phenomenon

The area was subject to an internet phenomenon after a user of Google Earth using the screen name KenGrok posted images of what they believed was a secret People's Liberation Army military facility.<ref>Google Earth Community (2006). China - Huangyangtan - Scale model of landscape?. Retrieved August 14, 2006.</ref> The facility, estimated at around 630,000 m² in size, is 35 km from Yinchuan and in the town of Huangyangtan. The purpose of the facility was subject to wide speculation on the internet following the original posting, although no official explanation for the site has been given. The subsequent posting of a photograph on the Chinese wforum.com depicted what was claimed as constituting a terrain model of the disputed Aksai Chin region of China;<ref>Hutcheon, Stephen. "The riddle of China's Area 51", The Age, 14 August 2006.</ref><ref>Aroor, Shiv. "From sky, see how China builds model of Indian border 2400 km away", Indian Express, 5 August 2006.</ref><ref>Haines, Lester. "Chinese black helicopters circle Google Earth", The Register, 19 July 2006.</ref> the image includes a watermark of Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China.

Authorities in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have been quoted as saying that the site is used as a tank training ground.<ref>Hutcheon, Stephen. "Chinese X-file not so mysterious after all", The Age, 23 July 2006.</ref>