The Land of the Thirteen Kingdoms, Dihua was once the confluence of a number of settlements, standing on a valuable chokepoint across the Silk Road. Efforts from China to consolidate the region spanned numerous dynasties over numerous centuries, slowly formalising as small settlements on the location of modern Dihua were formed to handle local administration. Dihua itself was founded in 1755 in the wake of the Dzungar Genocide, being built and expanding around a local army barracks next to another new city.

The two cities expanded through the nineteenth century, attracting attention from merchants as Han, Hui and Manchurian settlers enabled rapid expansion. As it rapidly expanded, interest grew in the city, being regarded as a shining example of eastern Chinese culture transferred over to Turkestan. It grew to supersede other regional cities in strength, becoming the capital of Xinjiang Province in 1884. When the Republic of China collapsed, Dihua became the capital of a local warlord, undergoing a procession of leaders and struggling with a series of extended revolts among Uyghur opponents to continued Han rule, before slowly beginning to ossify as Japan exerted its control over East Asia, and as the United Front retreated further inland.

Today, Dihua stands at a crossroads, shorn once again between its origins and its heartland. Continued attempts to encourage Han settlement have failed, and have only served as fuel for the rage of many Uyghurs across the province. The Kuomintang struggles to govern the city, aided by the remnants of the CPC and sympathetic Uyghur and Hui groups. In many ways, Dihua has begun to decline, isolated from the wider world and frozen in the 1930s. The city might be able to withstand stagnation for another decade - but what comes next?