Authorities expect even more at this year's event, which started on March 16 and ends on April 10. The challenge is that the county's hotels have only 6,000 beds, Wu says.

Jinchuan covers 5,550 square kilometers and is home to 14 ethnic groups, including the Qiang, Han and Hui.

The settlement features prominently in Qing emperor Qianlong's historical conquests.

From 1737 to 1747, Tibetan strongman Sha Luoben tried to subjugate the neighboring areas, endangering stability in Aba and neighboring Tibet.

In 1747, the emperor dispatched soldiers, who forced Sha Luoben's surrender in 1749.

In 1770, Suo Nuomu, the 19-year-old son of Sha Luoben's nephew, became the new strongman. The next year, he killed another warlord and refused to obey the emperor's order to return the newly vanquished land to the warlord's family.

So, the emperor sent troops. The war lasted half a decade.