七彩甘肃 －The Splendid Colors of Gansu

Gansu 甘肃 (Abbreviation 甘 or 陇/隴 (pinyin: Gān or Lǒng)) is a province of China, located in the northwest of the country (see map below). It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu (yellow earth) plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east. The Yellow River 黄河 passes through the southern part of the province. Gansu has a population of 26 million (2009), covers an area similar sized to California. The capital is Lanzhou 兰州, located in the southeast part of the province. Gansu is a compound name first used during the two Sui and Tang dynasty prefectures (州): Gan 甘 (around Zhangye 张掖) and Su 肃 (around Jiuquan 酒泉).

Situated along the Silk Road, Gansu was an economically important province, as well as a cultural transmission path. Temples and Buddhist grottoes such as those at Mogao Caves 莫高窟 ('Caves of the Thousand Buddhas') and Maijishan 麦积山 Caves contain artistically and historically revealing murals. Frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines have tended to slow economic progress of the province until recently. Based on the area's abundant mineral resources it has begun developing into a vital industrial center. An earthquake in Gansu at 8.6 on the Richter scale killed around 180,000 people in 1920, and another with a magnitude of 7.6 killed 275 in 1932.

Gansu has an area of 454,000 square kilometres, and the vast majority of its land is more than 1,000 metres above sea level. Part of the Gobi Desert is located in Gansu, as well as small parts of the Badain Jaran Desert 巴丹吉林沙漠 and Tengger Desert 腾格里沙漠. The Yellow River 黄河 gets most of its water from Gansu. The Yellow River also flows straight through Lanzhou 兰州. The landscape in Gansu is very mountainous in the south and flat in the north. The mountains in the south are part of the Qilian Mountains 祁连山, while the far western Altyn-Tagh contains the province's highest point, at 5,830 metres. A natural land passage known as Hexi Corridor 河西走廊, stretching some 1,000 kilometres from Lanzhou to the Jade Gate 玉门关, is situated within the province. Gansu generally has a semi-arid to arid, continental climate, with warm to hot summers and cold to very cold winters. Most of the precipitation is delivered in the summer months. However,due to its extreme altitude and remoteness, some areas of Gansu exhibit the Subarctic Climate - with winter temperatures dropping to -40.

The Silk Road's Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor 絲綢之路：长安－天山廊道, which was approved by the World Heritage Committee in June 2014 as Site No. 1442, consists of 33 newly designated sites in China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Out of this 33 sites, 22 are located in China. Of this 22, 5 are in Gansu.

The location of Gansu Province in China:-



The Yellow River 黄河 flows through the provincial capital Lanzhou 兰州.


The locally produced beer named Huanghe (Yellow River).