Lanzhou Overview

As the capital as well as the commercial center of Gansu Province, Lanzhou is located in the geometric center of China with the Yellow River running from west to east through the whole city, enclosed by the hills on one side and waters on the other, and it is also the economy center in the upper reaches of the Yellow River as well as the radiation source of economy zone along the Long-Hai Railway and the Lan-Xin Railway, connecting perfectly the east part with the western regions of China.

There are 4 main railways intersecting in Lanzhou City, which are the Long-Hai Railway (from Lianyungang Railway Station of Jiangsu Province to Lanzhou Railway Station), the Lan- Xin Railway (from Lanzhou Railway Station to Urumqi Railway Station of Xijiang Uygur Autonomous Region), the Lan- Bao Railway (Lanzhou Railway Station to Baotou Railway Station of Inner Mongolia) and the Lan-Qing Railway (from Lanzhou City to Xi’ning City of Qinghai Province) respectively, functioning as the transportation hub in the northwest part of China as well as the transfer center along “the second Asia-Europe Continental Bridge”.

Lanzhou City administers 5 districts and 3 counties, namely: Chengguan District, Qilihe District, Xigu District, Anning District and Honggu District; Yongdeng County, Yuzhong County and Gaolan County. Lanzhou City is a multi-ethnic area with a total population of 3.22 million, among which 2.1 million people were urban residents, including 35 minority nationalities inhabiting in the city with the Han Nationality. The number of the Minority Nationality in the city takes up 3.6% of the whole population.

The topography of Lanzhou City is very long and narrow, surrounded by mountains with the Yellow River running through the whole city, and the average altitude of the city center is 1,520 meters (4,987 feet) above the sea level, which is actually a valley basin city in the shape of a zonary dumbbell with 35 kilometers (22 miles) long form west to east and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to 8 kilometers (5 miles) wide from south to north.