The Golden City was located at the northernmost end of the Zhaoyun Province, at the junction of the Northeast Plain and mountain area. Although the name, the Golden City, made it sound like a wealthy place, it was actually just a small city with a relatively unimpressive economy.
There were two versions of rumors that were told regarding the origin of the Golden City. The most common one was told of the Yellow Towel Army in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
It was said that, after the Yellow Towel Army's uprising failed, Zhang Jiao's descendants led the rest of the army to flee to this place, where they then established the Golden City. Therefore, the "golden" in its name originally referred to color of the Yellow Towel Army's war attire.