Beyond the Great Wall: Urban Form and Transformation on the Chinese Frontiers

This study of cities on China's inland frontiers from ancient times to the present integrates the approaches of urban geography, cultural historical geography, and frontier studies to assess the form and function of cities on the Chinese frontiers. It explores the nature of urbanism on Chinese frontiers, and presents comparative case studies of a group of Chinese frontier cities. The author explores how the urban ideals and practices of eastern China were adapted to the natural and human conditions of the frontier regions, and in the process she analyzes the interaction of Chinese and non-Chinese peoples in frontier cities. She shows how a distinctive frontier urban form emerged, which, while adhering mainly to eastern Chinese practice, also incorporated a certain degree of diversity, especially in monumental and vernacular architecture.