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.
Map
of Hubei
Gansu province is located at a place with a varied
topography, where Loess Plateau, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
and Inner 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.
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