Zhangye 张掖 is a prefecture-level city in Gansu province, China. It borders Inner Mongolia on the north and Qinghai on the south.
Zhangye lies on the frontier of China proper, historically protecting it from the nomads of the north and permitting its armies access to the Tarim Basin. During the Han dynasty, Han armies were often engaged against nomadic people (e.g. the Xiongnu) in this area. It was also an important outpost on the Silk Road. Before being over-run by the Mongols, it was dominated by the Western Xia dynasty, and before that it was a vassal state for the Uyghurs.
The Yuan Dynasty’s founder (Genghis Khan’s grandson) Kublai Khan is said to have been born in Zhangye. Marco Polo's journal states that he spent a year in the region during his journey to China.
