Yumen City

For other uses, seeYumenguan.

Yumen Ngọc môn thị
County-level city
Yuzehu Park, Yumen, Gansu Province
Location of Yumen City (pink) within Jiuquan City (yellow) and Gansu
Yumen Location of the city centre in Gansu Yumen Yumen (China)
Coordinates:39°50′N97°34′E
Country	China
Province	Gansu
Prefecture-level city	Jiuquan
Municipal seat	Yumen Town
Area
• Total	13,500 km2(5,200 sq mi)
Elevation	1,507 m (4,944 ft)
Population (2020)
• Total	137,736
• Density	10/km2(26/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8(China Standard)
Postal code	735211
Area code	0937
Website	www.yumen.gov.cn

Yumen(simplified Chinese:Ngọc môn;traditional Chinese:Ngọc môn;pinyin:Yùmén,literally, "Jade Gate," ) is a city in westernGansuprovince, China. It is acounty-level citywith a population of 106,812 (2002 est.), and is part ofJiuquan"prefecture-level city"(a multi-county administrative unit). It is located on theSilk Roadand is best known for its oil production.

The city's name is often confused with the Yumen Guan orJade Gatewhich is the frontier-pass of ancient times, the entrance to the oldSilk Roads,which was situated not far to the west ofDunhuang.Although both Yumen City and Yumen Gate are within Jiuquan, the latter is some 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the west from the former.

In 2014, areas of the city were sealed off after a resident died of thebubonic plague.Districts of the city which house up to 100,000 were turned intoquarantine zones.The city allocated 1 millionyuanto be used for emergencyvaccinations.

History

The site of Yumen was brought under Chinese control around the end of the 2nd centuryBCE.Yumen was known as 'Huiji' in the 5th century when the area was reclaimed by theNorthern Wei dynasty(386–534/535) and was soon after renamed back to Yumen in 581. Under theTang dynasty(618–907), Yumen'scounty seatwas located at Chijinzhen which is east of the present Yumen City. The city was then underTibetancontrol around 770 CE for some 70 years. After the Tang dynasty, Yumen became a part of theWestern Xia(1038–1227). During theMing dynasty(1368–1644), the area came under Tibetan control again and was only reestablished later on in the early Qing dynasty (1644–1912).

In 1939, the first oilfield in China was established at Yumen.

Administrative divisions

Yumen Cityis divided to 1 subdistrict, 10 towns, 2 ethnic townships and 5 others.

Subdistricts

• Xinshiqu Subdistrict (Tân nội thành đường phố)

Towns

Yumen (Ngọc môn trấn) Chijin (Vàng ròng trấn) Huahai (Biển hoa trấn) Laojunmiao (Lão quân miếu trấn) Huangzhawan (Hoàng áp loan trấn)

Xiaxihao (Hạ tây hào trấn) Liuhe (Liễu hà trấn) Changma (Xương mã trấn) Liuhu (Liễu hồ trấn) Liudun (Sáu đôn trấn)

Ethnic townships

• Xiaojinwan Dongxiang Ethnic Township (Tiểu kim loan dân tộc Đông Hương hương)
• Dushanzi Dongxiang Ethnic Township (Độc giả sơn dân tộc Đông Hương hương

Others

• State-owned Horse Drinking Farm (Quốc doanh uống mã nông trường)
• State-owned Yellow Flower Farm Dongxiangzu Township (Quốc doanh hoa cúc nông trường)
• Gansu Nongken Yusheng Agricultural Company (Cam Túc nông khẩn dụ thịnh nông nghiệp công ty)
• Gansu Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Construction Engineering Company (Cam Túc tỉnh nông khẩn kiến trúc công trình công ty)
• Gansu mining area (Cam Túc khu vực khai thác mỏ)

Economy

The overland route toWestern AsiafromChinaflourished until the end of theTang dynasty.Furthermore, due to increased use ofsea transportation,Yumen became a backwater.

There were two catalysts for Yumen's rapid revival in the 1930s and 40s. The construction of a modern highway over the old caravan route from Yumen toÜrümqi(capital of theUygur Autonomous RegionofXin gian g) and continuing on-wards toKazakhstan.Therailwayof Yumen is the linking point of therailway linebetweenLanzhou(capital ofGansu) andÜrümqi.

After the discovery ofoilin theJiuquanbasin, to the north of theQilian Mountainsthe city's economy was given another major push. The first oil was drilled at Laojunmiao near Yumen in 1939 where an appreciable production was achieved in 1941. Only until 1949 did large-scale development begin, and prospecting in 1950 revealed much larger reserves than had been speculated. Yumen has its ownrefinerybut is also linked bypipelineto a refinery atLanzhou.Other thanoil drillingandrefining,Yumen also hasthermalandwindpower-generating facilities.Manufacturingincludesmachinery,building materials,chemical fertilizersand processagriculturalproducts.

China appears to be constructing 120 missile silos near Yumen.

Geography and climate

Yumen has a cold desert climate (KöppenBWk), with an annual total precipitation of 67 millimetres (2.64 in), the majority of which occurs in summer. Winters are long and cold, with a 24-hour average temperature of −9.8 °C (14.4 °F) in January, while summers are very warm, with a July average of 21.7 °C (71.1 °F); the annual mean is 7.13 °C (44.8 °F). Thediurnal temperature variationreaches or exceeds 15 °C (27 °F) for much of the year. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 67% in March to 80% in October, the city receives 3,214 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Climate data for Yumen, elevation 1,526 m (5,007 ft), (1991–2020 normals)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−2.8 (27.0)	2.9 (37.2)	10.4 (50.7)	18.4 (65.1)	23.7 (74.7)	28.0 (82.4)	29.9 (85.8)	28.7 (83.7)	23.5 (74.3)	15.9 (60.6)	6.7 (44.1)	−1.4 (29.5)	15.3 (59.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−9.9 (14.2)	−4.9 (23.2)	2.4 (36.3)	10.4 (50.7)	16.2 (61.2)	20.9 (69.6)	22.7 (72.9)	21.0 (69.8)	15.0 (59.0)	7.5 (45.5)	−0.5 (31.1)	−7.9 (17.8)	7.7 (45.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−15.4 (4.3)	−11.2 (11.8)	−4.3 (24.3)	2.8 (37.0)	8.1 (46.6)	12.9 (55.2)	14.8 (58.6)	13.1 (55.6)	7.7 (45.9)	0.9 (33.6)	−5.9 (21.4)	−13.0 (8.6)	0.9 (33.6)
Averageprecipitationmm (inches)	1.6 (0.06)	1.6 (0.06)	5.1 (0.20)	4.4 (0.17)	8.8 (0.35)	14.9 (0.59)	13.2 (0.52)	12.1 (0.48)	7.7 (0.30)	2.2 (0.09)	2.2 (0.09)	2.6 (0.10)	76.4 (3.01)
Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm)	2.6	1.4	2.4	2.3	3.5	4.4	5.9	4.6	2.3	1.3	1.7	3.4	35.8
Average snowy days	5.1	2.7	3.1	1.3	0.2	0	0	0	0.1	0.8	2.6	5.7	21.6
Averagerelative humidity(%)	56	42	35	30	31	39	46	45	44	40	47	57	43
Mean monthlysunshine hours	215.6	211.7	253.2	277.7	311.5	308.1	306.1	299.5	281.8	273.9	223.7	210.7	3,173.5
Percentpossible sunshine	72	69	68	69	69	69	68	71	77	81	76	73	72
Source:China Meteorological Administration