The city's name in Chinese means "The Gorge of Three Gateways" and is derived from two islands that split the Yellow River into three parts. According to Chinese mythology, Yu the Great used a divine axe to cut the mountain ridge three times, creating the Sanmenxia gorges to prevent massive flooding. The three "men" or gates were then named "The Gateway of Man", "The Gateway of Gods" and "The Gateway of Devils". With the construction of the Sanmenxia Dam in the late 1950s, the ancient passes were flooded. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Sanmenxia was part of the territory of the State of Western Guo, ruled by relatives of the ruling Ji family of Zhou. Guo moved its capital from modern dayBaoji to Shangyang, next to Sanmenxia. Later, this territory was annexed the State of Jin. Archaeological finds near Sanmenxia between 1956 and 1991 revealed mass chariot graves and bronzeware of Western Guo State rulers. Furthermore, the archaeological site “Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient Road”, an excavated pathway that is recognized by UNESCO as part of the world heritage site “”, is also located in Sanmenxia.
Geography and climate
Sanmenxia is located in western Henan on the southern bank of the Yellow River, and is surrounded on three sides by mountains, with elevations generally increasing from northeast to southwest. Most of the prefecture is at an altitude of, although the highest peak in the province, at, is located in Lingbao. The prefecture is at the intersection of Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces, bordering Luoyang to the east, Nanyang to the south, Weinan to the west, and Yuncheng to the north across the Yellow River. Sanmenxia has a mostly dry, monsoon-influenced continental climate with four seasons. Winters are moderately cold and very dry, while summers are hot and humid. Monthly daily average temperatures range from in January to in July, and the annual mean is. More than half of the annual precipitation falls from July to September. There are between 184 and 218 frost-free days per annum. In the Köppen system, the city is in the transition zone between a humid subtropical climate and humid continental climate, and receives barely enough precipitation to avoid being semi-arid.
