Qingyang has an extremely long history. The first paleolith was discovered in Huachi County of the city. The Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC to 771 BC) developed and grew in Qingyang and then moved southward. It was during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC) that shires and prefectures began to be set up in this region. There are ravines crisscrossing and undulating hills all over Qingyang City. It belongs to the Loess Plateau area and mainly consists of three regions: low mountainous and hilly areas in the east, high mountainous and hilly areas in the north and gully areas in the south-central. The terrain is high in the north, west and east as well as being low in the south and center, forming a basin in eastern Gansu. It was also an important place in the communist revolution.