As the capital of Jinchang Commandery (later Guazhou Prefecture), the city prospered during the Tang and Western Xia dynasties.

It was an important administrative, economic, and cultural center of the Hexi Corridor for over a millennium, with an estimated peak population of 50,000.

Outside the city walls, the broader archaeological park includes the original site of Ming'an County, more than 2,000 tombs, and the remains of an extensive irrigation system with over 90 kilometres (56 mi) of canals.

In 2014, it was inscribed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites as part of Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor.

Suoyang City is located in the Gobi Desert, southeast of modern Suoyangcheng Town, Guazhou County, in Gansu Province of Northwestern China.

It occupies the site of an ancient oasis in the Hexi Corridor, at an altitude of 1,358 metres (4,455 ft) above sea level.

During its existence of about 1,700 years, the city was a major political, military, economic and cultural center on the Silk Road, between Dunhuang (Shazhou) to the west and Jiuquan (Suzhou) to the east.

A common feature of Tang dynasty cities, they were used as animal enclosures in peace time to keep humans and livestock apart as a disease-prevention measure, and as military fortresses in wartime.

It was destroyed in Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou's suppression of Buddhism and rebuilt in the Tang and Western Xia dynasties.

One of the richest tombs found along the Silk Road, it probably belonged to a governor of Guazhou Prefecture or a wealthy merchant.

[3] In 111 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty established Ming'an County (冥安縣) under the Dunhuang Commandery.

After the Mongol Empire destroyed Western Xia in 1227, Guazhou Prefecture was not restored until fifty years later during the Yuan dynasty, when it was governed under Shazhou Circuit.

However, constant fighting among the Mongols, Moghulistan, and other nomadic tribes severely damaged the city and it was eventually abandoned.

[1] In 1996, the State Council of China designated Suoyang City as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (No.

[9] The site was listed in 2010 by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage as a candidate for the national archaeological park status.