Liaoyuan

Liaoyuan (simplified Chinese: 辽源; traditional Chinese: 遼源; pinyin: Liáoyuán) is a prefecture-level city in Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It is bounded on the west and south by Tieling of Liaoning province, west and north by Siping, and east by Tonghua and Jilin City. Liaoyuan lies some 100 km (62 mi) south of Changchun, the provincial capital. Covering an area of 5,125 km2 (1,979 sq mi), Liaoyuan is the smallest among the prefecture-level divisions of Jilin. Liaoyuan has a total population of 1,176,645 in the prefecture, while the urban area has a population of 462,233.[2] Liaoyuan was an imperial hunting ground during the Qing dynasty, going by the name Shengjing Paddock (盛京圍場). Ordinary citizens were prohibited from entering this region until late 1800s, when waves of immigrants from Hebei, Shandong and Henan began to populate Manchuria (see Chuang Guandong). In 1902, Qing government established Xi'an County (西安縣) in this region, which became today's Xi'an District. The discovery of coal underground shortly afterwards brought prosperity to the city. Between 1931 and 1945, Xi'an was an important coal-mining city in Manchukuo and also the place where American Army General Jonathan M. Wainwright was held as a prisoner. After World War II, Xi'an County was renamed to Beifeng County (simplified Chinese: 北丰县; traditional Chinese: 北豐縣) to avoid confusion with Xi'an in Shaanxi. During the Chinese Civil War, Xi'an was a focal point of the intense fighting between the Communist and Nationalist forces until the summer of 1947 when it was permanently captured by the Communist force. The city was renamed Liaoyuan (literally the source of the East Liao River) in 1952, and the county previously named Liaoyuan was renamed to Shuangliao. As a county-level city, Liaoyuan was under Siping Prefecture's jurisdiction till 1983, when it became a prefecture-level city, administering two districts and two counties.