 The first mint in the Northern Circuit was opened in the city of Yining which was both the military and administrative of the region.It is unclear weather the Yining Mint opened in 1764 (as argued by the Chinese numismatist Ding Fubao) or in 1775.The Yining Mint had a total of twenty-one buildings and its technical staff included two employees from Shaanxi who supervised the local production of Qianlong Tongbao cash coins in Yining.