[2] The site of Shuozhou was the ancient Chinese frontier town of Mayi (马邑),[4] which was used as a trading post between China and the Xiongnu nomads of the eastern Eurasian steppe.

Mayi was subsequently the capital of Dai Prefecture and the scene of an attempted ambush of the Xiongnu by Chinese troops in 133 BC.

During the chaos between the fall of the Sui and rise of the Tang, Mayi was the base of the would-be emperor Liu Wuzhou.

Shuozhou has a continental, monsoon-influenced semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk),[5] with cold, very dry, and somewhat long winters, and warm, somewhat humid summers.

Typifying the influence of the East Asian Monsoon, over three-fourths of the annual 399 millimetres (15.7 in) of precipitation occurs from June to September.