(Redirected from Gansu Province)
'' () is a
province located in the northwest of the
People's Republic of China. It lies between
Qinghai,
Inner Mongolia, and the
Huangtu Plateaus, and borders
Mongolia to the north and
Xinjiang to the west. The
Huang He river passes the southern part of the province. It has a population of approximately 25 million (1997) and has a large concentration of
Hui Chinese. The capital of the province is
Lanzhou, located in the southeast part of Gansu. Gansu is abbreviated Gan or Long (陇/隴), and is also known as Long West or Long Right, in reference to the Long Mountain east of Gansu.
Administration
Main articles: List of administrative divisions of Gansu
There are fourteen administrative areas in Gansu immediately below the province level: twelve
prefecture-level cities and two autonomous prefectures:
★
Baiyin City (白银 Báiyín)
★
Dingxi City (定西 Dìngxī)
★
Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (甘南藏族 : Gānnán Zāngzú)
★
Jiayuguan City (嘉峪关 : Jiāyùguān)
★
Jinchang City (金昌 : Jīnchāng)
★
Jiuquan City (酒泉 : Jiǔquán)
★
Lanzhou City (兰州 : Lánzhōu)
★
Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture (临夏回族 : Línxià Huízú)
★
Longnan City (陇南 : Lǒngnán)
★
Pingliang City (平凉 : Píngliàng)
★
Qingyang City (庆阳 : Qìngyáng)
★
Tianshui City (天水 : Tiānshuǐ)
★
Wuwei City (武威 : Wǔwēi)
★
Zhangye City (张掖 : Zhāngyè)
History
Gansu is an
acronym first used in
Song Dynasty,
China, of two
Sui and
Tang Dynasty
prefectures (州): Gan (around
Zhangyi) and Su (around
Jiuquan).
In prehistoric times, Gansu was host to a number of
Neolithic cultures. The
Dadiwan culture, from where numerous archaeologically significant
artifacts have been excavated, flourished in the eastern end of Gansu from about
6000 BC to about
3000 BC [1]. The
Majiayao culture (馬家窯文化) and part of the
Qijia culture (齊家文化) also took root in Gansu from
3100 BC to
2700 BC and
2400 BC to
1900 BC respectively.
The
Qin state (秦), later to become the
founding state of the
Chinese empire, grew out from the southeastern part of Gansu, specifically the
Tianshui (天水) area. The
Qin name itself is believed to have originated, in part, from the area
[2][3]. Qin tombs and artifacts have been excavated from
Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200 year old map of
Guixian county [4].
In imperial times, Gansu was an important strategic outpost and communications link for the Chinese empire, as the
Hexi corridor (河西走廊) runs along the "neck" of the province. The
Han dynasty extended the
Great Wall across this corridor, also building the strategic
Yumenguan (Jade Gate Pass, near
Dunhuang) and
Yangguan () fort towns along it. Remains of the wall and the towns can be found there to this date. The
Ming dynasty also built the
Jiayuguan outpost in Gansu. To the west of Yumenguan and the
Qilian mountains, at the northwestern end of the province, the
Yuezhi,
Wusun, and other
nomadic tribes dwelt (
Shiji 123), occasionally figuring in regional imperial Chinese
geopolitics.
Situated along the
Silk Road, Gansu was an economically important province, and a cultural transmission path as well.
Temples and
Buddhist grottoes
[5] such as those at
Mogao Caves ('Caves of the Thousand Buddhas') and
Maijishan Caves contain artistically and historically revealing
murals.
[6] An early form of
paper inscribed with
Chinese characters and dating to about
8 BC was discovered at the site of a Western Han
garrison near the Yumen pass in
August 2006 [7].
Many parts of the province saw heavy fighting during the
Muslim Rebellion of 1862-77.
Its frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines have tended to slow its economic progress, until recently when based on its 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 70,000 in
1932.
Geography
Gansu province has an area of 454,000
km², and the majority of its land is more than 1 km above
sea level. It lies between the
Tibetan Plateau,
Inner Mongolia, and the
Loess Plateau, and borders
Mongolia to the north-west. The
Huang He river passes through the southern part of the province. The province contains the geographical center of China, marked by the Center of the County Monument at latitude 35.33°N and longitude 103.23°E.
[8]
Part of the
Gobi Desert is located in Gansu.
The Yellow River (
Huang He) gets most of its water from Gansu province. The Yellow River also flows straight through Lanzhou.
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 mountain range. At 5,547 meters high, Qilian Shan Mountain is Gansu’s highest elevation. It is located at latitude 39°N and longitude 99°E.
Neighboring provinces:
Inner Mongolia,
Xinjiang,
Qinghai,
Sichuan,
Shaanxi, and
Ningxia.
Other cities include:
★
Yumen
★
Xiahe
Economy
The Yellow River seen from the park of the White Pagoda.
Agricultural production includes
cotton,
linseed oil,
maize,
melons (the
Bailan melon is well known in China),
millet, and
wheat. Gansu is known as a source for wild medicinal herbs which are used in
Chinese medicine.
However, most of Gansu's economy is based on
mining and the extraction of
minerals, especially
rare earth elements. The province has significant deposits of
antimony,
chromium,
coal,
cobalt,
copper,
fluorite,
gypsum,
iridium,
iron,
lead,
limestone,
mercury,
mirabilite,
nickel,
crude oil,
platinum,
troilite,
tungsten, and
zinc among others. The oil fields at Yumen and Changqing are considered significant.
Industries other than mining include
electricity generation,
petrochemicals, oil exploration machinery, and building materials.
According to some sources, the province is also a center of China's nuclear industry.
Its nominal GDP for
2004 was about 155.9 billion yuan (19.34 billion USD) and per capita of 5010 RMB (605 USD).
Demographics
Gansu province is home to 26,033,400 people. Most of the population, 73%, is still rural. Gansu is 92%
Han and also has
Hui,
Tibetan,
Dongxiang,
Tu,
Manchu,
Uyghur,
Yugur,
Bonan,
Mongolian,
Salar, and
Kazakh minorities.
Language
Most of the inhabitants of Gansu speak dialects of Northern
Mandarin Chinese. On the border areas of Gansu you may hear
Amdo Tibetan,
Mongolian, and
Kazakh. Most of the minorities also speak Chinese, except for the Mongolian speaking
Tu minority who are said to seldom speak a second language.
Culture
The cuisine of Gansu is based on the staple crops grown there:
wheat,
barley,
millet,
beans, and
sweet potatoes. Within China, Gansu is known for its pulled noodles, and
Muslim restaurants which feature authentic Gansu cuisine are common in most major Chinese cities.
Tourism
The Jiayuguan Pass of the Great Wall
Jiayuguan Pass, in
Jiayuguan city, is the largest and most intact pass, or entrance, of the
Great Wall. Jiayuguan Pass was built in the early Ming dynasty, somewhere around the year
1372. It was built near an oasis that was then on the extreme western edge of China. Jiayuguan Pass was the first pass on the west end of the great wall so it earned the name “The First And Greatest Pass Under Heaven.”
An extra brick is said to rest on a ledge over one of the gates. One legend holds that the official in charge asked the designer to calculate how many bricks would be used. The designer gave him the number and when the project was finished, only one brick was left. It was put on the top of the pass as a symbol of commemoration. Another account holds that the building project was assigned to a military manager and an architect. The architect presented the manager with a requisition for the total number of bricks that he would need. When the manager found out that the architect had not asked for any extra bricks, he demanded that the architect make some provision for unforeseen circumstances. The architect, taking this as an insult to his planning ability, added a single extra brick to the request. When the gate was finished, the single extra brick was, in fact, extra and was left on the ledge over the gate.
Mogao Grottoes
The
Mogao Grottoes near
Dunhuang represent an astonishing collection of
Buddhist art and religion. Originally there were a thousand grottoes, but now only 492 cave temples remain. Each temple has a large statue of a
buddha or
bodhisattva and paintings of religious scenes. In
336 AD, a monk named
Le Zun (Lo-tsun) came near Echoing Sand Mountain, when he had a vision of golden rays of light shining down on him like a thousand Buddhas. Le Zun started to carve the first grotto to memorize the incident. During the
Five Dynasties period they ran out of room on the cliff and could not build anymore grottoes. Now they have started to find old paintings that were painted over in the Five Dynasties.
Silk Road and Dunhuang City
The historic
Silk Road starts in
Chang'an and goes to
Constantinople. On the way merchants would go to Dunhuang in Gansu. In Dunhuang they would get fresh camels, food and guards for the journey around the dangerous
Taklamakan Desert. Before departing Dunhuang they would pray to the Mogao Grottoes for a safe journey, if they came back alive they would thank the gods at the grottoes. Across the desert they would form a train of camels to protect themselves from thieving bandits. The next stop,
Kashi (Kashgar), was a welcome sight to the merchants. At Kashi most would trade and go back and the ones who stayed would eat fruit and trade their
bactrian camels for
single humped ones. After Kashi they would keep going until they reached their next destination.
Bingling Temple
Bingling Temple, or Bingling Grottoes, is a
Buddhist cave complex in a canyon along the
Yellow River. Begun in 420 AD during the
Western Jin Dynasty, the site contains dozens of caves and caverns filled with outstanding examples of carvings, sculpture, and frescoes. The great Maitreya Buddha is more than 27 meters tall and is similar in style to the great Buddhas that once lined the cliffs of
Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Access to the site is by boat from
Yongjing in the summer or fall. There is no other access point.
Labrang Monastery
Labrang Tashikyil Monastery is located in
Xiahe County,
Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, located in the southern part of Gansu, and part of the traditional Tibetan province of
Amdo. It is one of the six major monasteries of the
Gelukpa tradition of
Tibetan Buddhism in
Tibet, and the most important one in Amdo. Built in 1710, it is headed by the Jamyang-zhaypa. It has 6 ''dratsang'' (colleges), and houses over sixty thousand religious texts and other works of literature as well as other cultural artifacts.
Miscellaneous topics
The
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is located in the Gobi desert in Gansu Province.
Postage stamps
In August
1949, the provincial government
overprinted the nondenominated stamps "locomotive" and "airmail arrow" stamps issued by the central government. These overprints were made by handstamping in purple, and are quite rare, valued at over US$500 each.
Counterfeits are known, and apparent examples should be
expertized.
Education
Colleges and universities
★
Lanzhou University (Lanzhou)
★
Gansu Agricultural University
Natural resources
Land
★ 166,400 km² grassland
★ 46,700 km² mountain slopes suitable for livestock breeding
★ 46,200 km² forests (standing timber reserves of 0.2 km³)
★ 35,300 km² cultivated land (1,400 m² per capita)
★ 66,600 km² wasteland suitable for forestation
★ 10,000 km² wasteland suitable for farming
★ 454,000 km² total area
Minerals
Three thousand deposits of 145 different minerals. Ninety-four minerals have been found and ascertained, including nickel, cobalt, platinum, selenium, casting clay, finishing serpentine, and five other minerals whose reserves are the largest in China.{{cn} Gansu has advantages in getting nickel, zinc, cobalt, platinum, iridium, copper, barite, and baudisserite.
Energy
Among Gansu’s most important sources of energy are its water resources: the Yellow River and other inland river drainage basins. Gansu is placed ninth among China’s provinces in annual hydropower potential and water discharge. Gansu produces 17.24 gigawatts of hydropower a year. Twenty-nine hydropower stations have been constructed in Gansu, each capable of generating 30 gigawatts. Gansu has an estimated coal reserve of 8.92 billion tons and petroleum reserve of 700 million tons. There is also good potential for wind and solar power development.
Flora and Fauna
Gansu has 659 species of wild animals. Among these are the
giant panda,
snub-nosed monkeys, antelopes,
snow leopards, deer, fawn, musk deer, and the
Bactrian camel. It also has twenty-four other rare animals which are under a state protection. Gansu is home to 441
species of
birds; especially among these, it is a center of
endemism and home to many species and
subspecies which occur nowhere else in the world.
Gansu province is second place in China for most medicinal plants and herbs, including some odd ones like
hairy asiabell root,
fritillary bulb, and
Chinese caterpillar fungus.
External links
★
甘肅省人民政府網站 (Gansu People's Government Website) (in
Simplified Chinese)
★
Large map of Gansu
★
Gansu, the Mainland's "Little Lhasa" Newspaper travel report about Gansu Province
★
The Pilgrims of Langmusi Article about Sichuanese-Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims in Langmusi
References
1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. [4]
5. [5]
6. "Artistic treasures of Maiji Mountain caves" by Alok Shrotriya and Zhou Xue-ying. [6]
7. [7]
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
