Tianshui

Tianshui (zh-cp |c=天水 |p=Tiānshuǐ) is the second largest city in Gansu province in northwest China. Its population is approximately 3,500,000.

Tianshui lies along the route of the ancient Northern Silk Road, through which much of trade occurred between China and the west. [ [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006 "Silk Road, North China", C. Michael Hogan, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham] ] Nearby are the Maijishan Grottoes filled with thousands of Buddhist sculptures, represented by figures as Sakyamuni and Avalokitesvara, produced in as early as the Wei Dynasty and as late as the Song Dynasty by Buddhist monks who first came here via the North Silk Road and, later on, by local Buddhists, for worship purposes. ["Artistic treasures of Maiji Mountain caves" by Alok Shrotriya and Zhou Xue-ying. [http://www.asianart.com/articles/alok/index.html] ]

The Qin state, later to become the founding dynasty of the Chinese empire, grew out from this area, and the Qin name itself is believed to have originated, in part, from there [ [http://english.people.com.cn/200602/20/eng20060220_244270.html Peoples Daily online, "Chinese surname history: Qin"] .] Qin tombs have been excavated from Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200 year old map of Guixian County. [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-04/30/content_378835.htm "Over 2,200-Year-old Map Discovered in NW China"] .]

Tianshui is a diocese of the Roman Catholic church, currently vacant. [ [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dtsnc.html Diocese of Tsinchow [Tianshui] ]

Footnotes

ister cities

One sister city of Tianshui is:
* Bendigo, Australia