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'Hexi Corridor' or 'Gansu Corridor' () refers to the historical route in Gansu province of China. As part of the Silk Road running northwest from the bank of the Yellow River, it used to be the most important passage from ancient China to Xinjiang and Central Asia for traders and the military. The route formerly comprised Haidong, Xining and Juyan Lake, covering an area of about 215,000 km². It was an area where mountain and desert limited caravan traffic to a narrow area where fortification could control who passed.^[1]
More specifically, Hexi is a long narrow passage stretching for about 1000 km from the steep Wushaolin hillside near the modern city of Lanzhou to the Jade Gate at the border of Gansu and Xinjiang. There are many fertile oasises along the path. The strikingly inhospitable environment surrounds them: the vast expanse of the Gobi desert, the snow-capped Qilian Mountains to the south, the Beishan mountainous area, and the Alashan Plateau to the north.

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See also

Footnotes

1. The Silk Roads and Eurasian Geography

See also

★ Juyan Lake Basin