articles
China Elevator Stories
Yinchuan and the Western Xia Dynasty
I am currently in Ningxia.
29/01/2026
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
I arrived at my next stop yesterday: Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia province. Nestled between Inner Mongolia and Gansu, Ningxia doesn’t get as much attention from tourists as many other provinces do.
Yinchuan has been surprising—it isn’t one of those provincial capitals that shine with high-rises and modern buildings. Instead, it feels much more like a smaller town. Many houses are only a few storeys high, and the city itself is smaller than some other, larger provincial capitals.
Yinchuan is close to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Western Xia Imperial Tombs. These are magnificent. Though not much information is available about the Tangut, the people who built these mausoleums—much of it having been lost to history—the buildings themselves are in good shape, considering they were built between the 11th and 13th centuries and have endured wind, rain, ice, snow, and time.
Have you ever visited Ningxia?