Chengguan, Huangyuan County

The city was first known as Tongkor or Tongkhor, Tonkir, Tongor, Denger, Donkir, and Tankar. The name is still used in Tibetan and Mongolian, although after the Xinhai Revolution the name was changed in Chinese to Xiancheng in 1913, then to Zhongshan in honor of Sun Yat-sen, then to Huangyang in 1938. During the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, it was finally renamed Chengguan. Following Chinese practice, it is also frequently known as Huangyuan from the county it administers. ==History==

The lamasery to the town's south was established in 1648 by Dogyu Gyatso, the 4th Tongkor, in remembrance of a visit to the area by Sonam Gyatso, the 3rd Dalai Lama. It became an important religious center for the Mongolian tribes of the area. The journey to Lhasa was usually reckoned as 60–70 days. During the First Dungan Revolt, the town and surrounding countryside were the scene of a massacre of around 10,000 Muslims. At the time, the other Chinese and Tibetans in the town numbered less than 10,000 themselves and were protected by only a nominal force of 200 men under a "colonel". After the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Chengguan raised to district status. It was lowered to town status in 1953. Since the Reform and Opening Up Policy, the town has attempted to attract tourists with "Dan Gar Ancient Town" (, Gǔchéng), a restoration of some of the former walled city. ==References==