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Places in China: Gansu Province

In the middle of the Silk Road, Gansu Province knows a lot about international business and has been involved since 200 BC. The European explorer Marco Polo witnessed the business acumen of the people of this province in his travels. Gansu was at the heart of the Silk Road which was the road taken by traders from Xi'an and Europe. Those traders took Chinese products westward and brought western products back into China. The 12,000 kilometre road has been the source of political, economic and cultural communication between East and West for 2000 years.

The only east-west rail link still goes through the Hexi Corridor, which runs through Gansu Province. The Loess Plateau and the Tibetan Plateau help to form the basic water in the great Yellow (Huang He) River, sometimes called the Mother River.

The capital city of Gansu is Lanzhou. It is a modern city and is the only city through which the Mother River runs, going from east to west. Lanzhou is also a transportation capital with airlines going to all parts of China and even to overseas. The railway has been and remains a strong element in Lanzhou's transport offerings with over ninety trains daily. Good highways link the province with neighbouring areas as well. Lanzhou is an important link on the Eurasia Bridge.

Tourism is now an important focal point, especially concerning the old Silk Road. Many people flock to Lanzhou and other cities within the province for up-front information on the ancient as well as the modern trading centres. If a person were to search for the actual centre of China, Lanzhou is the logical conclusion. Geographically, Lanzhou in Gansu Province is the central point in the country.

Hotels and food service are highly important services in Gansu, not only in Lanzhou but also in the other cities. There are so many tourist sites in the province that such services make a good living. One end of the Great Wall of China lies at Jiayuguan. There are old Muslim settlement remains in the province as well as an interesting Tibetan monastery at Labrang. One of the finest Buddhist cave art discoveries has been found near Dunhuang at the large Mogao Cave complex.

The population density in Gansu is very low at 57.7 persons per square kilometre. The people are ethnically mixed as it has been difficult for people to move into and out of the province. The geographical elements in the province tend to keep people from leaving. Mountains, the Yellow River and a large portion of the Gobi desert are located inside the province.

Visitors will find enough exotic activities to keep themselves occupied. Shopping should include a visit to the Sunday Market (Xingqiri Schichang). They offer everything from hardware to animals to Chinese silk every week.

Winters in Gansu are usually cold. Summers are variable; you can find many days of sunny weather and then a long spell of quite wet weather. The altitude of most of Gansu is over one kilometre.

Natural products found in Gansu include several elements such as crude oil, tungsten, iron and platinum. The city of Lanzhou also is home to herbs which are used in Chinese medicines. These all add to the industrial focus of the province.