I was looking for the exact location of Zaofu. I thought it was in the north because of the many mountains and rivers, but the Wiki says it's in the southwest.
I looked at several maps, and none seemed to point to Zaofu. I read some Reddit discussions; according to Kuvira's map, it appears to be the small green dot in the southeast, near Gaoling.
Only one map shows a small state, called Zhaozang, where Zaofu must be. That makes me think the state is so small it's practically forgotten, which explains why Suyin was able to buy large tracts of land. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought the whole state and then changed it's name, since she says to Korra there was nothing there before. And Kuvira refers to Zaofu as a state, not a city.
Even so, geography doesn't convince me.
Note: I don't have the authors of all the maps at the moment, so I will update the post as I find them.













