Its walled town was an important regional post in late imperial China, visited by Jesuit missionaries and reported on by the Macartney Embassy.

Other market towns in the county include Nanhu, Zhudian, and Handian in the north, south-west, and south-east respectively.

The people of Zhuanglang are predominantly farmers, producing wheat and potatoes on terraced hills.

The farmers of Zhuanglang were proclaimed in the 1980s for having terraced all available hillside, and a monument in the county town records the famous 'Zhuanglang Spirit' by which this was achieved.

The cultural sites of Zhuanglang include: The highest point of the county is Taomushan at 2857m above sea level.