Dahejia Town () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

under Jishishan County, in Linxia,

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

. It is located on the south bank of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

, bordering

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

province on what can be considered the boundary between the

Loess Plateau The Loess Plateau is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic rock, clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of Dust#Atmospheric, wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surrounded by t ...

and the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

History

The area around Dahejia has been inhabited since 5,000 years ago by the

Majiayao culture The Majiayao culture was a group of Neolithic communities who lived primarily in the upper Yellow River region in eastern Gansu, eastern Qinghai and northern Sichuan, China. The culture existed from 3300 to 2000 BC. The Majiayao culture represent ...

. The town has long been the site of an the Linjin ferry, an important ferry crossing in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. This also established the town as a trading base on the Silk Road and a military chokepoint. It was a marketplace for tea and horses. In 1988 a 161 meter long bridge opened, replacing the ferry. A second bridge was built in 2019. Dahejia town was merged from the former Dahejia township and Shibaozi township. Dahejia was one of the most severely hit areas by the 2023 Jishishan earthquake, recording 78 deaths and over 5,200 homes becoming inhabitable

Demographics

In 1996, the population was 12,000, of which 42% are Bonan, 31% are Hui, and 7% are Salar people.

Culture

The Bonan minority are known for their saber-crafting. The

Jishi Gorge outburst flood The Jishi Gorge outburst flood was a natural disaster that occurred around 1920 BC in China. The water flow during the eruption was one of the largest fresh water flows to occur in our geologic epoch (Holocene) and caused large widespread flooding ...

, on which the Great Flood myth was probably based, took place near Dahejia.

Notes and references

{{Authority control Township-level divisions of Gansu Towns in China Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County