History of Haidong

Haidong Prefecture (hǎi dōng dì qū 海东地区) is a prefecture of Qinghai province in Western China. Its name literally means “east of the (Qinghai) Lake”. The prefecture is subdivided into 5 county-level divisions: Ping’an County (píng ān xiàn 平安县), Ledu County (lè dū xiàn 乐都县), Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County (mín hé huí zú tǔ zú zì zhì xiàn 民和回族土族自治县), Huzhu Tu Autonomous County (hù zhù tǔ zú zì zhì xiàn互助土族自治县), Hualong Hui Autonomous County (huà lóng  huí zú zì zhì xiàn 化隆回族自治县) and Xunhua Salar Autonomous County (xún huà sǎ lā zú zì zhì xiàn 循化撒拉族自治县).

According to archeological discoveries, this area was proved to be inhabited by human settlers. Before the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC), nomads of the Qiang lived here. In the early Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD), the troop of the court defeated the Huns in the west of the Yellow River, and a fortress was established in the city to protect against the invasion of nomad groups.