• Houston
  • Qilian County

Houston (/ˈhjuːstən/ (listen); HEW-stən) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat and largest city of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle.

Comprising a land area of 640.4 square miles (1,659 km2), Houston is the ninth-most expansive city in the United States (including consolidated city-counties). It is the largest city in the United States by total area whose government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Though primarily in Harris County, small portions of the city extend into Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties, bordering other principal communities of Greater Houston such as Sugar Land and The Woodlands.

The city of Houston was founded by land investors on August 30, 1836, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou (a point now known as Allen's Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city is named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had won Texas's independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles (40 km) east of Allen's Landing. After briefly serving as the capital of the Texas Republic in the late 1830s, Houston grew steadily into a regional trading center for the remainder of the 19th century.

Qilian County, which belongs to Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, gets its name because it is located in the hinterland of the middle part of Qilian Mountains. It is adjacent to the Gansu Hexi Corridor, the primary passage of the ancient Silk Road, to the north, so it is known as the "north gate" of Qinghai. Qilian County covers an area of 14000 square kilometers, accounting for 41% of the total land area of the whole state. It has jurisdiction over 45 administrative villages in 4 townships and 3 towns, with a total population of 50,000 as of 2013, with 15 ethnic groups, including Han, Tibetan, Mongolian and Hui, with ethnic minorities accounting for 79.2% of the population. The average elevation in the territory is 3169 meters, the county seat is 2787 meters above sea level, the annual average temperature is 1 ℃, and the annual precipitation is about 420mm, which is a typical plateau continental climate. Qilian is an important resource-rich area in Qinghai Province. A variety of mineral resources, known as "China's Ural", is a key county in the development of resources in the province. "Qilian" system
Travel Notes In Qilian County