Gansu or Kansu, province (1994 est. pop. 23,520,000), 141,000 sq mi (365,284 sq km), NW China. The capital is Lanzhou. Gansu is bordered by the Republic of Mongolia on the north. Its mountains include part of the Nanshan range and an extension of the Kunlun. The loess soil is fertile, but rainfall is inadequate and irrigation and land reclamation programs have had to be developed. Winter wheat, sorghum, millet, corn, rice, cotton, and tobacco are grown, especially in the Huang He (Yellow River) and Wei River valleys. Livestock (sheep, goats, horses, cows, and camels) are raised in the mountainous areas. Gansu's mineral resources include coal, copper, gold, nickel, zinc, and large deposits of iron ore and oil; two important oil fields are in the province. Lanzhou is a flourishing heavy industrial center, with one of the largest oil refineries in the country, and Yumen, though now declining, is China's oldest oil center; other towns are developing steadily. There is a satellite launch center near Jiuquan. Roads and railways have been extensively improved. Lanzhou is an important transportation hub; the Lanzhou-Xinjiang RR crosses the province, and the Lanzhou-Beijing RR has a connection through Mongolia to Russia.

Long isolated from the center of Chinese power, the Gansu area has traditionally been independent of all but the strongest central governments. After the 13th cent., Muslim strength grew, and fierce Muslim rebellions often plagued the central government. Today the province's strategic importance is enhanced by its control of communications into Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Russia. Although Han Chinese comprise most of the population, there are 11 major minorities, of which Muslims and Mongols are the largest. Gansu's boundaries have been changed several times in recent years. The former province of Ningxia was joined to it in 1954, then detached in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous region. In the 1969-70 redistricting, Gansu received a portion of W Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. In 1979 this decision was reversed, and Gansu was restored to its former size.

or Kan-su conventional Kansu

Province (pop., 2002 est.: 25,930,000), north-central China. It is bordered by Mongolia, the autonomous regions of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia, and the provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai. It has an area of 141,500 sq mi (366,500 sq km). Its capital is Lanzhou. For centuries a passage between the upper Huang He (Yellow River) region and western China, it became part of Chinese territory in the 3rd century BC. It was renowned as the entranceway into China used by Marco Polo. Eastern Gansu is the main site of earthquakes in China; in 1920 an earthquake there destroyed many towns and caused 246,000 deaths. Wheat is the province's chief crop, and wheat flour rather than rice is the basis of the local diet.

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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 Yellow River passes the southern part of the province. It has a population of approximately 26 million (2004) 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.

Administrative divisions

There are fourteen administrative areas in Gansu immediately below the province level: twelve prefecture-level cities and two autonomous prefectures:

The prefecture-level cities:

• Baiyin City (白银 Báiyín Shì)
• Dingxi City (定西 Dìngxī Shì)
• Jiayuguan City (嘉峪关 : Jiāyùguān Shì)
• Jinchang City (金昌 : Jīnchāng Shì)
• Jiuquan City (酒泉 : Jiǔquán Shì)
• Lanzhou City (兰州 : Lánzhōu Shì)
• Longnan City (陇南 : Lǒngnán Shì)
• Pingliang City (平凉 : Píngliàng Shì)
• Qingyang City (庆阳 : Qìngyáng Shì)
• Tianshui City (天水 : Tiānshuǐ Shì)
• Wuwei City (武威 : Wǔwēi Shì)
• Zhangye City (张掖 : Zhāngyè Shì)

The autonomous prefectures:

• Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (甘南 : Gānnán Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu)
• Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture (临夏 : Línxià Huízú Zìzhìzhōu)

History

Gansu is a compound name 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 . 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 . Qin tombs and artifacts have been excavated from Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200 year old map of Guixian county .

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 (阳关) 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.

After the fall of the Uyghur Empire, a Uyghur state was established in Gansu that lasted from 848 to 1036 AD. During that time, many of Gansu's residents converted to Islam.

Situated along the Silk Road, Gansu was an economically important province, and a cultural transmission path as well. Temples and Buddhist grottoes  such as those at Mogao Caves ('Caves of the Thousand Buddhas') and Maijishan Caves contain artistically and historically revealing murals. 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 .

The province was also the origin of the Muslim Rebellion of 1862-77, which later spread to much of China and resulted in the deaths of upwards of twelve million Chinese Muslims in addition to the decimation of Chinese Muslim culture in Yunnan province, where over one million Muslims were killed by Qing forces. Gansu's Muslim community was almost entirely exterminated during this period, and only a small minority of Chinese Muslims still remain, many of whom work and own Muslim restaurants, which are extremely popular amongst the Han Chinese majority.

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 Yellow 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

Part of the Gobi Desert is located in Gansu.

The Yellow River 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

Anti-desertification project

The Asian Development Bank is working with the State Forestry Administration of China on the Silk Road Ecosystem Restoration project, designed to prevent degradation and desertification in Gansu. It is estimated to cost up to US$150 million.

Politics

Secretaries of the CPC Gansu Committee: The Secretary of the CPC Gansu Committee is the highest ranking office within Gansu Province.

1. Zhang Desheng (张德生): 1949-1954
2. Zhang Zhongliang (张仲良): 1954-1961
3. Wang Feng (汪锋): 1961-1966
4. Hu Jizong (胡继宗): 1966-1967
5. Xian Henghan (冼恒汉): 1970-1977
6. Song Ping (宋平): 1977-1981
7. Feng Jixin (冯纪新): 1981-1983
8. Li Ziqi (李子奇): 1983-1990
9. Gu Jinchi (顾金池): 1990-1993
10. Yan Haiwang (阎海旺): 1993-1998
11. Sun Ying (孙英): 1998-2001
12. Song Zhaosu (宋照肃): 2001-2003
13. Su Rong (苏荣): 2003-2007
14. Lu Hao (陆浩): April 2007 - incumbent

Governors of Gansu: The Governorship of Gansu is the second highest ranking official within Gansu, behind the Secretary of the CPC Gansu Committee. The governor is responsible for all issues related to economics, personnel, political initiatives, the environment and the foreign affairs of the province. The Governor is appointed by the Gansu Provincial People's Congress, which is the province's legislative body.

1. Wang Shitai (王世泰): 1949-1950
2. Deng Baoshan (邓宝姗): 1950-1967
3. Xian Henghan (冼恒汉): 1967-1977
4. Song Ping (宋平): 1977-1979
5. Feng Jixin (冯纪新): 1979-1981
6. Li Dengying (李登瀛): 1981-1983
7. Chen Guangyi (陈光毅): 1983-1986
8. Jia Zhijie (贾志杰): 1986-1993
9. Yan Haiwang (阎海旺): 1993
10. Zhang Wule (张吾乐): 1993-1996
11. Sun Ying (孙英): 1996-1998
12. Song Zhaosu (宋照肃): 1998-2001
13. Lu Hao (陆浩): 2001-2006
14. Xu Shousheng (徐守盛): January 2007 - incumbent

Economy

Agricultural production includes cotton, linseed oil, maize, melons (such as the honeydew melon, known locally as the Bailan melon or "Wallace" due to its introduction by US vice president Henry A. Wallace), 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.

Despite recent growth in Gansu and the booming economy in the rest of China, Gansu is still considered to be one of the poorest provinces in China. Its nominal GDP for 2006 was about 269.9 billion yuan (35.5 billion USD) and per capita of 10,335 RMB (1,359 USD). Tourism has been a bright spot in contributing to Gansu's overall economy. As mentioned below, Gansu offers a wide variety of choices for national and international tourists.

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. Prior to the Panthay Rebellion (also Muslim Rebellion), Gansu province had a large community of Chinese Hui Muslims, which was almost completely decimated by Qing authorities.

Language

Most of the inhabitants of Gansu speak dialects of Northern Mandarin Chinese. On the border areas of Gansu you may hear Tu, Amdo Tibetan, Mongolian, and Kazakh. Most of the minorities also speak Chinese.

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 lamian (pulled noodles), and Muslim restaurants which feature authentic Gansu cuisine. Muslim restaurants are known as "qingzhen restaurants" ("pure truths restaurants"), and feature typical Chinese dishes, but without any pork products, and instead an emphasis on lamb and mutton.

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.

Located about 5 km southwest of the city, the Crescent Lake or Yueyaquan is a oasis and popular spot for tourists seeking respite from the heat of the desert. Activities includes camel and 4x4 rides.

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.

Space launch center

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
• Northwest Minority University
• Lanzhou Jiaotong University
• Lanzhou University of Technology
• Northwest University of Nationalities
• Lanzhou Railway Institute
• Gansu University of Technology
• Northwest Normal University
• Lanzhou Commercial College
• Lanzhou Polytechnic College
• Tianshui Normal College (Tianshui)

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.

References

External links

• Gansu Government Website