Lanzhou

Lanzhou, also known as Jincheng (Golden City) in history, is the capital city of Gansu Province. It is now in charge of three districts and five counties, the fifth new development area of China—Lanzhou New Area, two national development zones—Lanzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone and Lanzhou Economic Zone and 4 provincial industrial zones. It covers an area of 13.1thousand square kilometers and its city proper area of 1631.6 square kilometers. The total population is 4.4 million, with an urban population of 3.616 million. And it enjoys the name as the Major City of the Silk Road, the Pearl of the Yellow River, the Summer Palace of the West, the Capital of Waterwheels, the City of Melons and Fruits.

As a famous cultural tourist city in West China, Lanzhou enjoys a long history of over 2200 years. The prehistoric sites represented by the ancient Majiayao, Banshan, Machang, Qijia cultures are widely scattered in Lanzhou. The Silk Road culture, Yellow River culture, Folk culture and Ethnic culture enhance each other’s beauty here, displaying diverse regional cultural features and leaving many cultural and natural sites and historical relics for visitors to explore.

The 50-kilometre Yellow River Park alongside the river is the biggest open river park in China, attracting more and more tourists both at home and abroad. The city also has scenic spots such as Five Springs Mountain, White Pagoda Mountain, Zhongshan Bridge, Waterwheel Park and the Mother Yellow River Sculpture. Other places of interests are Heavenly Palace by Sand Axes (Tianfu Shagong) featured with Danxia Landform, Mamenchisaurus Fossil Relic which is the home to the biggest dinosaur in Asia, the Majiayao colored pottery which represents the essence of Yellow River culture, and the Complex of Prince Su’s Tombs of Ming Dynasty. There is local Magistrate’s Office of the Ming Dynasty—Lutusi Yamen, the state-level key cultural relic. Xinglong Mountain, listed as “National Nature Reserve”, Tulugou Valley, listed as “National Forest Park”, are well renowned. In Gansu, the unearthed paper of the Han Dynasty and Pottery Drums are rarely seen in the world. You can also appreciate the national treasure Si Ku Quan Shu (The Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature) from Wenshuge Academy. With a total collection of 18.2 thousand artifacts, there are more than 600 historical sites and cultural relics like White Pagoda Temple, Taihe Iron Bell and Temple of Bronze Ambassador Buddha.

In recent years, the “Cultural Lanzhou” has attained remarkable achievements by creating a batch of masterpieces. Tales of the Silk Road has been acclaimed as a Chinese dancing classic in the 20th century and a milestone in China’s dance drama history. The new version of Tales of the Silk Road is listed in the top ten National Theatre Classics, receiving acclaims from all over the world. The Peace Drum are regarded as the First Drum in China as the drummers’ magnificent performance is filled with masculine power and momentum,. With the annual circulation of more than 10 million, the magazine Readers ranks the first in Asia and the fourth in the world.

China’s Northwest tour starts from Lanzhou. Lanzhou, taking on a brand new look, welcomes visitors from all over the world.