General Introduction

Gansu in the upper Yellow River valley in northwest China was named after the first character of the names of its two ancient cities, Ganzhou (modern Zhangyi) and Suzhou (modern Jiuquan). Long and narrow in shape, it has an area of more than 450,000 square kilometers and a population of 19.18 million, of which 11 per cent live in the cities and the rest in the rural areas. Of its total population, 7.6 per cent are from the Hui, Tibetan, Dongxiang, Mongolian, Tu, Yugur, Baoan and other minority nationalities.

Scenic Spots


Dunhuang -- Grottoes in the Desert
Fuxi Temple
Jiayu Pass -- Western End of the Great Wall
Jiuquan -- 'Wine Fountain'
Lanzhou -- City on the Silk Road
Wuwei
xiahe
Zhangye

Topography

Gansu adjoins the Loess, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai-Tibet plateaus, averaging 1,000- 3,000 metres in elevation. The eastern part, composed of the undulating Loess Plateau, is drained by the Yellow River and its tributaries, the Weihe and Taohe, and has potential for the development of hydropower. The Bailong River valley south of the Qinling range has a warm, humid climate for lush plant growth. The Qilian Mountain Area on the Gansu-Qinghai border generally exceeds 4,000 meters above sea level. There are the Heihe, Shule and other inland rivers in the Gansu Corridor between the Qilian range and the Longshou and Heli mountains. Although the greater part of the Corridor is deserts and semi-deserts with an arid climate, there are contiguous oases Which have the benefit of the melt-water from the Qilian Mountains for the development of farming and animal husbandry. A natural passage from the heartland of China to Xinjiang and Central Asia in ancient times, the Gansu Corridor is crossed by the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway.

Climate

Gansu has a temperate monsoonal climate with the marked transitional characteristics of a continental climate. It has a mean annual temperature of 0-15ºC, with great difference between north and south, and a mean annual precipitation of 30-860 mm., decreasing from southeast to northwest.

Communications

Railways

Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province, is the geographical center of China, where the Lanzhou-Urumqi, Baotou-Lanzhou, Longhai (Lianyungang-Lanzhou), and Lanzhou-Xining trunk railways meet. The Baoji-Lanzhou and Lanzhou-Wuwei sections of the Longhai Railway have become electric. The Baoji-Zhongwei Railway, a new line, is now open to traffic. A dual route of the Lanzhou-Urumqi Railway was completed in May 1995. And the construction of a local railroad in Pingqing is now in full swing. By the end of 1997, the length of Gansu’s railroads in operation had totaled 1,982 kilometers, the volume of rail freight had become 42 billion tons, and the passenger volume had reached 5 billion people/km. The opening to traffic of the Eurasian Bridge has turned the vast hinterland of China, including Gansu Province, into an international thoroughfare.

Highways

There are 72 national and provincial highways linking roads in the counties and townships, with a total length of 35,000 kilometers. The Tianshui-Beidao and Lanzhou-Zhongchuan Airport expressways are open to traffic. The volume of goods transported on the highways reached 8.5 billion tons and the passenger volume, 500 million people/km.

Airports

Gansu has formed an air-transport system with Lanzhou as the center. There are more than 20 air routes with a total length of 35,700 kilometers leading to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Urumqi, Hong Kong as well as cities within the province, such as Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Tianshui, and Qingyang. The volume of air cargo reached 4.3 million tons/kilometers and the passenger volume, 42.22 people/kilometers.