At present, "Long" is also the abbreviation of Gansu, and Longyou also refers to Gansu in many cases. Longyou probably first appeared in Wei Chu at the end of Han Dynasty, and it came from Longshan (Liupan Mountain) at the junction of Shaanxi and Gansu.
Longyou area is located in the west of the Loess Plateau, bordering Qinghai-Tibet, Inner Mongolia and the Loess Plateau. In ancient times, this area was the only place where the Silk Road passed, and it was also an important area for the dynasties to govern the western regions and control the northwest frontier defense.