Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Lanzhou (兰州) is the capital of the Gansu province in China. Table of contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Climate 2.2 Neighboring Provinces and Autonomous Regions 3 Demographics 4 Economy 4.3 Natural Resouces 4.4 Industry 4.5 Agriculture 5 Transportation 6 Places of Interest 7 Culture 8 Colleges and universities 9 External Links History Lanzhou was once called the Golden City. Located in the Hexi Corridor, or "Corridor West of the Yellow River", in which early Chinese civilization began, it has a history of over 2,000 years. Lanzhou was founded in the Qin Dynasty. During Han Dynasty, it became a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. To protect the city, the Great Wall was extended as far as Yumen. See also: Dunhuang Bingling Temple White Pagoda Hill (pinyin: bai2 ta3 shan1). After the fall of Han Dynasty, Lanzhou became capital of a succession of tribal states. Mixed with different cultural herritage, area at present-day Gansu province, from the 5th to the 11th century, became a center for Buddhist study. , Geography Area: 14,620 sq km Elevation: 1600m above sea level China's geographic center More than 20km along urban corridor along the southern banks of the Yellow River. Character of zonary basin Mountains: the south and north Qilian Ranges, Mt. Pingliang and Mt. Kongtong (the most famous in Taoism) Rivers: The Yellow River flows through from east to west Climate Semi-dry climate in the temperate zone. Neighboring Provinces and Autonomous Regions Provinces: Shaanxi, Sichuan,Qinghai Autonomous Regions: Inner Mongolia, Ningxia Hui, Xinjiang Uygur Demographics Population: 32 million Urban Population: 1.2 million Ethnic groupss: Han, Hui, Tibetan, Bonan, Dongxiang, Yugur and Salar Economy Natural Resouces Mineral: coal, gold, silver, zine, nickel, manganese, clay and dolomite waterpower Industry Gansu has one of the largest oil refineries in the country and the center of China's atomic energy industry. Main Industries: textile mills, rubber, fertilizer plants, oil refinery, Petro-chemical, machinary and metallurgical industry Agriculture spring wheat, vegetables, beans, oil-boiling, melon, peaches, and tobacco roses and lilies Transportation Lanzhou is a rail, highway, and air hub and the junction point to remote Xinjiang in extreme NW China. Airways: The airplane here can take you to more than 20 cities all over the country. Railroad: Lanzhou is linked by rail to Beijing and to the Republic of Mongolia and Russia Highways: on the highway to Tibet. Lan-Xin railway: only railway leading into Xinjiang see also: Trolleybus Places of Interest (under construction) Wuquan Mountain Baita Mountain Xinglong Mountain Lutusi ancient government Culture Chinese drama/Chinese opera: Qinqiang Drama Cuisine: Lanzhou beef noodles Colleges and universities Lanzhou University External Links google search for Lanzhou Photos of the city a very good site for traveling in China This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.