Shaanxi's Unique Grassland: Beautiful Like a Fairyland, Known as 'Little Tian Shan'
Guanshan Grassland is located in the southwestern part of Longshan County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, adjacent to the Tian Shui City, Zhangjiawan Hui Autonomous County of Gansu Province, 134 kilometers from Baoji City and 300 kilometers from Xi'an City. It is the only in Northwest China with a dominant high-altitude alpine meadow system and European-style characteristics, a national AAAA-level tourist scenic area.
The scenic area boasts a collection of diverse landscapes, including forests, grasslands, rivers, mountains, and canyons, presenting a pristine and magnificent natural beauty, earning it the nickname 'Little Tian Shan'.
The terrain here bears resemblance to that of the Central European Alps. The climate is influenced by vertical zoning geographical conditions, resulting in a borderless winter and spring, connected summer and autumn, famously described as 'Guanshan June Frost Condensation'.
In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Qin people's ancestor, Zifu, was used by Zhou Wangshi to graze horses along the J River. 'Horses prospered,' achieving remarkable success, and Zhou Xiao Wang 8th year (circa 890 BC) granted him the title of a fiefdom, establishing a town in Moliyaoyan, Longshan County.
A vital pastureland before the Han Dynasty's northern expansion, this area received excellent horses from the Western Regions, which were nurtured to meet military needs. It is said that at the time of the Han Dynasty, the horse population in the Guanshan area reached over 300,000 horses. Huo Qiaozu, at the age of 20, led over 10,000 elite riders for the first time to attack the, passing through here.
In 1958, Longshan County established the Guanshan Horse Farm here, introducing Kyrgyz mares and using Latvian stallions for crossbreeding and improvement, resulting in the 'Guanzhong Horse', restoring the exterior characteristics of Han and Tang horses.
