During the Kangxi Era of the Qing, a city was founded named Pingyuan.

Zhijin County is divided into 6 subdistricts, 16 towns, 3 townships and 7 ethnic townships:[1] Zhijin County is located in the southeastern part of Bijie City, roughly in the middle of Guizhou province.

The highest point in the county has altitude 2262 m, and the lowest 1319 m. The average temperature is 14.7 c, with annual rainfall 1391 mm.

The most important industry is tourism, with Zhijin Cave the number one attraction drawing tourists from all over China and the world.

There are 23 ethnic groups living in Zhijin, including Han Chinese, Miao, Yi, Hui and Buyei.