Lanzhou

Lanzhou 兰州
—  Prefecture-level city  —
兰州市
View of Yellow River and Lanzhou
Location of Lanzhou Prefecture within Gansu
Lanzhou Location within China
Coordinates: 36°02′N 103°48′E / 36.033°N 103.8°E / 36.033; 103.8
Country	China
Province	Gansu
County-level divisions	8
Government
- Mayor	Zhang Jinliang (张津梁)
- Vice Mayor	Cai Ming
Area
- Total	13,100 km2 (5,057.9 sq mi)
Population (2008)
- Total	3,310,100
- Density	252.7/km2 (654.4/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Postal code	730000
Area code(s)	931
License plate prefixes	甘A
GDP (2008)	CNY 84.6 billion
- per capita	CNY 25,566
Website	http://www.lz.gansu.gov.cn (Chinese)
City flowers Rugosa Rose

Lanzhou (simplified Chinese: 兰州; traditional Chinese: 蘭州; pinyin: Lánzhōu; Wade-Giles: Lan-chou; Postal map spelling: Lanchow) is a prefecture-level city and capital of Gansu province in northwestern China.

History

Originally in the territory of the Western Qiang peoples, Lanzhou became part of the territory of Qin in the 6th century BC.

In 81 BC, under the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), it became the seat of Jincheng county (Xian) and later of Jincheng commandery (jun), the county being renamed Yunwu. The city used to be called the Golden City, and since at least the first millennium BC it was a major link on the ancient Northern Silk Road,^[1][2] and also an important historic Yellow River crossing site. To protect the city, the Great Wall of China was extended as far as Yumen.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, Lanzhou became the capital of a succession of tribal states. Mixed with different cultural heritages, the area at present-day Gansu province, from the 5th to the 11th century, became a center for Buddhist study. In the 4th century it was briefly the capital of the independent state of Earlier Liang. The Northern Wei dynasty (386–534) reestablished Jincheng commandery, renaming the county Zicheng. Under the Sui Dynasty (581–618) the city became the seat of Lanzhou prefecture for the first time, retaining this name under the Tang Dynasty (618–907). In 763 the area was overrun by the Tibetans and was then recovered by the Tang in 843. Later it fell into the hands of the Western Xia Dynasty (which flourished in Qinghai from the 11th to 13th century) and was subsequently recovered by the Song Dynasty (960–1126) in 1041. The name Lanzhou was reestablished, and the county renamed Lanzhuan.

After 1127 it fell into the hands of the Jin Dynasty, and after 1235 it came into the possession of the Mongols.

Under the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) the prefecture was demoted to a county and placed under the administration of Lintao superior prefecture, but in 1477 Lanzhou was reestablished as a political unit.

The city acquired its current name in 1656, during the Qing Dynasty. When Gansu became a separate province in 1666, Lanzhou became its capital.

In 1739 the seat of Lintao was transferred to Lanzhou, which was later made a superior prefecture called Lanzhou.

Lanzhou was badly damaged during the rising of the Gansu Muslims in 1864–1875. In the 1920s and 1930s it became a center of Soviet influence in northwestern China. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) Lanzhou, linked with Xi'an by highway in 1935, became the terminus of the 3,200 km (2,000 mile) Chinese-Soviet highway, used as a route for Soviet supplies destined for the Xi'an area. This highway remained the primary traffic route of northwestern China until the completion of the railway from Lanzhou to Urumqi, Xinjiang. During the war Lanzhou was heavily bombed by the Japanese.

The city is the seat of a currently vacant Roman Catholic diocese^[3] and was previously the center of a vicariate apostolic (Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Kan-Su).^[4]

Geography

Location within China

• Area: 14,620 km²
• Elevation: 1,600 m above sea level
• China's northwest geographical center
• More than 20 km of urbanisation along the southern banks of the Yellow River.
• Zonary basin
• Location of mountains, located on the south and north sides of the city:
  • Qilian Ranges, Mt. Pingliang and Mt. Kongtong (the most famous in Taoism)
• Rivers:
  • The Yellow River flows through from west to east.

Lanzhou is situated on the upper course of the Yellow River, where the river emerges from the mountains. It has been a center since early times, being at the southern end of the route leading via the Hexi Corridor across Central Asia. It also commands the approaches to the ancient capital area of Chang'an (modern Xi'an) in Shaanxi province from both the west and the northwest, as well as from the area of Qinghai Lake via the upper waters of the Yellow River and its tributaries.

Climate and environment

Lanzhou is situated in the temperate zone and enjoys a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with hot summers and very cold and dry winters. Mean annual rainfall is 315 millimetres (12.4 in), almost all of which falls from May to October. The winters are so dry that snow is extremely rare.

In regard to air pollution Lanzhou has some of the worst air quality of all cities in China.^[5] According to the Blacksmith Institute, Lanzhou is one of the 30 most polluted cities in the world, with its TSP (total suspended particle) rating 247% above that of the Gansu State recommendation. The air quality is so poor that at times one can not see Lanshan, the mountain rising straight up along the south side of the city. At one point, a controversial suggestion was put forward to bulldoze a mountain adjacent to the city, in order to let fresh air in to the bowl where Lanzhou is situated. It was suggested on the premise that the surrounding mountains block a free flow of air in the city. The city is located in a narrow river valley with an unfortunate curve causing it to be hemmed in with no free air flow. Lanzhou is also the home of many factories, including some involved in petroleum processing, and suffers from large dust storms kicked up from the Gobi Desert, especially in the winter and spring.

The reach of the Yellow River at Lanzhou carries a high load of silt, giving the river its characteristic muddy appearance; however water quality in this reach is better than the "fetid outflow that barely passes for water two hours downstream".^[6]

Administrative divisions

Subdivisions of Lanzhou

Facing Yellow River

• Qilihe District (七里河区)
• Xigu District (西固区)
• Anning District (安宁区)
• Honggu District (红古区)
• Yongdeng County (永登县)
• Gaolan County (皋兰县)
• Yuzhong County (榆中县)

Economy

Panoramic view of Lanzhou city centre

Productivity

Since 1949 Lanzhou has been transformed from the capital of a poverty-stricken province into the center of a major industrial area. The GDP per capita of Lanzhou was 25,566 yuan (RMB) (US$3,681) in 2008, ranked no. 134 among 659 Chinese cities.

Natural resources

• Minerals: coal, gold, silver, zinc, nickel, manganese, clay, and dolomite
• Hydropower

There is a thermal generating plant supplied with coal from fields in Qinghai. In addition, there is a hydroelectric station at Zhulama Gorge in Gansu, and a large multipurpose dam has been built in the Liujia Gorge on the Yellow River above Lanzhou.^[7]

Industry

Main industries include textile mills, rubber, fertilizer plants, oil refinery, petrochemical, machinery, and metallurgical industry.

Gansu has one of the largest oil refineries in the country and Lanzhou itself is the center of the province's petrochemical industry. Lanzhou has a large refinery linked to the fields at Yumen by pipeline. It also manufactures equipment for the oil industry.

Lanzhou has a large textile industry, particularly noted for the production of woolens and leather goods. In addition, Lanzhou produces locomotives and rolling stock for the northwestern railways, as well as machine tools and mining equipment. Aluminum products, industrial chemicals, and fertilizers are produced on a large scale, and there is a large rubber industry. Copper is mined in nearby Gaolan.

Lanzhou has been one of the centers of China's national nuclear power industry since the 1960s.

Industrial zones:

• Lanzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone
• Lanzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone

Agriculture

Lanzhou is the collecting center and market for agricultural produce and livestock from a wide area.

• Spring wheat, vegetables, beans, oil-boiling, melon, peaches, and tobacco
• Roses and lilies

Transportation

Lanzhou station

The Yellow River seen from the park of the White Pagoda.

Airlines

• Lanzhou Airport serves as the main airport and is located 70 km north of Lanzhou. Flights from more than 20 cities depart and arrive at the airport.

Railroad

• Linked to Beijing, Shanghai, Ürümqi and Baotou. Lanzhou train station's coordinate is 36°02′06.54″N 103°50′55.41″E / 36.03515°N 103.848725°E / 36.03515; 103.848725
• Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway: linked to Xinjiang destinations only

Highways

• Linked to neighboring provinces
• China National Highway 212
• China National Highway 213
• China National Highway 312

Bus services

• serves local and provincial areas

Lanzhou is a regional rail, highway, and air hub in NW China and the junction point to Xinjiang. The Longhai Railway (Lianyungang-Lanzhou) line was extended westward to Lanzhou from Tianshui by 1953. Later Lanzhou was linked with Beijing via Baotou in Inner Mongolia, and lines have also been constructed northwest to Urumqi and westward via Haiyan on Qinghai Lake to Golmud (in Qinghai).

Places of interest

• Bingling Temple, Yongjing
• Gansu Provincial Museum
• Wuquan Mountain
• Baita Mountain
• Xinglong Mountain
• Lutusi ancient government

Media

Lanzhou Radio serves the Lhasa and Lanzhou province regions with news and music.

Gansu People's Press, in Lanzhou, publishes Duzhe. Duzhe is the most widely circulated magazine in the People's Republic of China.

Culture

The city is the cultural centre of Gansu.

• Chinese opera: Qinqiang Drama
• Cuisine: Lanzhou beef lamian noodles

Colleges and universities

The city is the seat of Lanzhou University, founded in 1909. The National Minorities Institute at Lanzhou and a number of scientific institutes are also located there.In particular, Northwest Normal University has been the key university at the provincial level, which has prepared over 100,000 teachers in schools across the province Gansu.

List

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor's degree programs are not listed.

National level

• Lanzhou University (兰州大学), founded 1909

Other public institutions

• Northwest Nationalities University (西北民族大学)
• Eastern Gansu University (陇东学院)
• Gansu Institute of Political Science and Law (甘肃政法学院)
• Northwest Normal University (西北师范大学), founded 1902
• Lanzhou University of Technology (兰州理工大学), founded 1919 (formerly Gansu University of Technology)
• Lanzhou Jiaotong University (兰州交通大学), founded 1958
• Gansu Agricultural University (甘肃农业大学), founded 1958
• Lanzhou Medical College (兰州医学院) (Lanzhou Medical Institute)
• Gansu College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (甘肃中医学院)
• Lanzhou Commercial College (兰州商学院) (Lanzhou Business Institute)
• Gansu Political Science and Law Institute (甘肃政法学院)
• Lanzhou Niuroumian Cultural Research Institute (兰州牛肉面文化研究所)
• Lanzhou City University (兰州城市学院)
• Tianshui Normal University (天水师范学院)
• Gansu Lianhe University (甘肃联合大学)

Healthcare

• Lanzhou Heavy Ion Cancer Treatment Center, joint venture by Sheng De Group, the city government and Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institution of Modern Physics

According to the provincial health bureau, about 42,000 people die of cancer every year in Gansu, accounting for 25 percent of the province's overall deaths. More than 1 billion yuan (146 million U.S. dollars) is spent annually on treating cancer in the province.

Sister cities

Sister cities of Lanzhou are:

• Albuquerque, United States
• Akita, Akita, Japan
• Christchurch, New Zealand

See also

• Dunhuang
• White Pagoda Hill

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lanzhou

• Lanzhou government website
• Lanzhou travel guide from Wikitravel

v • d • e Gansu Province History • Politics • Economy • Music Prefecture-level cities Baiyin • Dingxi • Jiayuguan • Jinchang • Jiuquan • Lanzhou • Longnan • Pingliang • Qingyang • Tianshui • Wuwei • Zhangye Autonomous prefectures Gannan • Linxia See also: List of Gansu County-level divisions

Coordinates: 36°03′N 103°48′E / 36.05°N 103.8°E / 36.05; 103.8