Urumqi means "A beautiful Pasture land " in ancient
Mongolian used by the Junggar tribe, 2000 years ago it was once
an important town on the new northern route of the Silk Road,
which made important contribution in promoting Sino-foreign economic
& cultural exchanges. During the 22nd year of the Zhenguan's
reign in the Tang Dynasty, 648 A.D., the Tang government set up
the town of Luntai in the ancient town seat of Urabo, which is
10 kilometers away from the southern suburb of Urumqi nowadays.
The Ancient Luntai Town, which played quit significant a role
on the new northern route of Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty, was
the only town of tax collection, the only town of management,
the town of supply and the first town as well. In the time of
Qing Dynasty (A.D.1763) , the emperor Qian Long named the expanded
city as "Dihua". UP to A.D.1884, another emperor Guang
Xu put up Xinjiang as a Province and the Di Hua city as the capital
of Xinjiang. After the founding of the people's Republic of China,
by Feb.1,1954, the city name was restored to its original meaning,
i.e., Urumqi.
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