gansu province

main cities of gansu: dunhuang, jiayuguan, lanzhou, wuwei, xiahe, zhangye, tianshui, yumen, jinchang

gansu province is also called long or gan for short. it is situated in the northwest part of china. its area is of 300 thousand square kilometers with a population of 22.88 million. gansu province is located at a place with a varied topography, where loess plateau, qinghai-tibet plateau and inner china gansu dunhuang jiayuguan wuwei lanzhou xiahe zhangye mongolian plateau meet. most of the middle and east part of it is of special loess topography, the hexi (or gansu) corridor (in northwestern gansu) is of green land and gobi desert intermittently spread. the southwest part is of high terrain, which is the border area of northeast qinghai-tibet plateau. to the west of wu qiao ridge is inner flowing area while to the east of it is outer flowing area which belong to two river systems of the yellow river and the yangtze river respectively. the climate category is intricate which has eight different climate areas. the quantity of ore reservation for non-ferrous metals like nickel, lead and zinc etc. occupies important position in the whole country. the province abounds in coal, iron, copper, sulphur, gypsum, marble and mirabilite reservation as well.

so far as the industries are concerned, there are equipment manufacture for petroleum, chemical industry, non-ferrous metals and petrochemical industry, all of which have occupied the important position in the whole country. the agricultural products include mainly wheat, cotton, flax and sugar beet, among which flax occupies important position in the country. the main communication instrument is railway, but the highway is important as well.

gansu province was the place where the main traffic line in ancient time between china and western countries, the famous silk road, passed through. with rich cultural resources the province has many places of interest and historical monuments, such as the dunhang caves, the maijie mountain caves and the giayuguan (a mountain pass at the west-most and of the great wall) etc. the traditional specialties of fame are carved jade wine cup, carpets modeled after ancient ones, bailan melon and lily etc.

many ethnic groups congregate in gansu, which makes it a unique tourist destination with a variety of folk customs. the scenes of grassland, the gobi desert, and snow-covered mountains add beauty to this mysterious land.

 

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last updated: march 10, 2006

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