Wuwei, Gansu
Jia Xu was from Guzang County (姑臧縣), Wuwei Commandery (武威郡), which is in present-day Wuwei, Gansu. In his youth, he was unimpressive and unheard of. However, Yan Zhong (閻忠), an official from Hanyang Commandery (漢陽郡; around present-day Gangu County, Gansu), felt that Jia Xu was extraordinary and even remarked that Jia had the brilliance of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, two famous strategists of the early Western Han dynasty.