The location of old Tianshui is unique. It is surrounded by two mountains, and a river runs through the city. The city center is to the north of Ji River. On the lowland between the old city and Ji River, there is a beautiful view of Guanquan spring, Shuiyue Temple, a Park, vegetable fields and mills. On this narrow strip of land, five districts of the city areconnected by a road along the central axis: Dongguan District, Dacheng District, Zhongcheng District, Xiguan District and Fuxi District. All of the main roads extend from east to west. The streets and lanes extend from south to north. The 21 gates become links between the downtown and the suburbs.

Dongguan District: Dongguan District is located in the east of the old city. It is the longest one of the five districts. There is a gate on each side, including the Guangwu Gate in the east, Fucai Gate in the west, Gongji Gate in the north and Dacheng Gate in the south. There were only a few shops here. A large part of the land was used for growing crops until 1930s. There are a number of ancient buildings, including Dragon Temple, Longevity Palace, Catholic Church, Buddhist Temple, Emperor Guan's Temple, and the Temple of Immortals.

Dacheng District: Dacheng District is to the west of Dongguan District. It is the center of old Tianshui city. The four gates include Huanzhang Gate in the south, Huaqing in the north, Chang'an Gate in the east and Xianning Gate in the west. The main road through north gate and south gate connects Dacheng District with Dongguan District and Zhongcheng District respectively. On the East and West tower, there are enormous plagues on both sides. On the East tower, the inscription reads "looking far into Chang'an" and "ever-lasting honesty and sincerity". On the west tower, the inscription reads "Wangyuan county: a place of solidarity" and "a town of military importance".

There were government buildings, schools and prosperous business in Dacheng District.The development of commerce in Dacheng District was second only to that of the Xiguan District. There were many famous buildings, such as the county government building, the district government building, Confucius' Temple, Longnan Academy, God's Temple, Ruilian Temple, Hu's Dwellings, Courtyard of family Jia, Feng Guorui's Residence. Shuiyue Temple is in the suburb. In the second half of the twentieth century, Dacheng District changed a lot. Now the well-preserved ancient residential buildings are mainly distributed in the region from Ruilian Temple to the County government buildings.

 Zhongcheng District: originally Meng River flew in this region in the past, which is called Luoyu River now. The city walls began to be built when Luoyu Bridge was built during the Jiajin period of Ming Dynasty. As a whole, it is narrow in the west and east, and long in the south and north. Thereare three gates: "Zhonghe Gate", "Beiji Gate", "Nanxiang Gate" (present "Water Tower Gate"). Guanquan Spring is out of the South Gate. Zhongcheng District is the smallest of the five districts, but there are many bazaars and workshops here. Some streets in this district are named after the dominant goods being sold there, like "the animal bazaar", "the pork and mutton bazaar", "a lane of groceries", "a lane of fruits", "a lane of fur". The historic sites, including Guanquan Spring, Hongtai Mosque, Beiguan Mosque, so far are all well preserved.

 Xiguan District is trapezoid in shape with the west narrower than the east. There are five gates: Xincheng Gate and Yanwei Gate connect Xiguan District with Zhongcheng District. Qihan Gate connects Xiguan District with Xiao Xiguan. There is Daqing Gate in the northeast and Fukang Gate in the southeast. Xiguan District is the most prosperous commercial center in history. Ancient houses and streets in this district are well preserved, so are the historic sites, like Shanxi and Shanxi Guildhall, Brocade Stand, Zhang Yusheng's Residence, Ha Rui's Residence.

Fuxi District: also called Xiaoxiguan District, it is a rectangular city long from east to west and narrow from north to south. There are two main gates: Qihan Gate which connects Xiguan and Xishao Gate in the west. In addition, close to Xiguan, there is a gate named the Small North Gate (Xiaobeimen, also the Cornucopia Gate) in the northeast and one called Small South Gate (Xiaonanmen) in the southeast. Fuxi District and Xiguan District are well-preserved areas of the ancient city with historical sites such as the famous Fuxi Temple and an ancient lane—Jujube Orchard Lane (Zaoyuanxiang).

In addition to the five districts, the ancient city of Tianshui also includes neighboring areas. Beiguanis the largest one. It is adjacent to Dacheng and Xiguan, and is the residential area of middle-lower class. There are a few residential buildings but more religious buildings such as Yuquan Taoist Temple, Taishan Temple. Wholesale industry flourished there. This is the famous historical and cultural city of China—Tianshui City.