I can speak for Han and three kingdoms.

A commandery, including the cities, would be governed by a Grand Administrator so, for example, the Grand Administrator of Chenliu would be charge of Chenliu. Appointed from outside the area, he would have a civil assistant and depending on the area a Commandant to help with miliatry matters, all appointed by the court and then support by more local appointments. If the area was under a King, a imperial relative fief and home but kept out of power, a chancellor would oversee the administration in the same manner as a Grand Administrator and perhaps keep an eye on the imperial family member.

A province was overseen or governed by an Inspector then, in Han's dying years before the civil war, more powerful position of Governor was created. Appointed from outside the province in a not very successful bid to avoid being too close to the local powers, and assisted by local officials like the Officer of Merit, they kept an eye on the Grand Administrators and could act to raise troops across commandery lines if a revolt was too large for the Grand Administrator to handle. So The Inspector/Governor of Ji would be in charge of the province of Ji and was a starting point of legitimacy for warlords to claim headship of the province (or be appointed to it/confirmed by the Han court)

Have a good weekend and hope this helps

Source: Rafe De Crespigny's The Administration of the Later Han empire