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Home → China Tours → Silk Road Tours → Lanzhou Travel Guide

Lanzhou Travel Guide

Location: Lanzhou is in the middle of Gansu province, back on Mt. Helanshan, and on the upper course of Yellow River.

Population: With a population of 2.83 million people, it is one of the largest cities in the northwest.

Area: 14,620 sq km

Nationalities: the Han Nationality is the principle part, and the minority including Hui nationality, Manchu, the Zang nationality and so on takes up 4% of the whole population.

History: It became part of the territory of Qin in the 6th century BC and later developed as a major trade centre on the Silk Road. It became the seat of Lanzhou prefecture under the Sui dynasty (581 – 618 AD) and the capital of Gansu province in 1666. It was badly damaged during the Muslim uprisings in 1864 – 75. A centre of Soviet influence in northwestern China in the early 20th century, it was the terminus of the 2,000-mi (3,200-km) Chinese-Soviet highway that was used during the Sino-Japanese War (1937 – 45) for the transport of Soviet supplies. Lanzhou developed as an industrial and cultural centre after World War II.

Climate: Lanzhou enjoys a typical semi-arid continental monsoon climate with distinct four seasons. The spring is short and changeable with big difference in temperature between days and nights. The summer is not overly hot with an average temperature of 22.4℃. Autumn is pleasant and beautiful with warm and comfortable weather and is the best time to plan your tour. The winter is cold and chilly with an average temperature of -7.3℃.

Transportation: Zhongchauan Airport, 70kms northwest of the downtown, has airlines to the major large or medium-sized cities in our country and provides shuttle buses at the Booking Office of Civil Aviation. The Lianyungang – Lanzhou Railway, Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway, Lanzhou-Qinghai Railway and Baotou-Lanzhou Railway all cross at Lanzhou city. National Highways 109, 212, 213, 312 run through Lanzhou

Local Specialties: Tao inkstone, engraved calabash, pebble carvings, Taoliao vase, and Lanzhou casserole.

Local Food: Lanzhou Beef Noodles in Thin Soup, Beef Cake of Many Layers, Longevity Chicken, Bangzi Smoked Chicken of Zhujiang, and Hand Mutton.

Major Attractions:
Gansu Provincial Museum – The Gansu Provincial Museum is a local comprehensive museum, built in 1956. With 7,500 square meters of exhibition space, the Museum mainly features five exhibition halls, namely, the Hall of Gansu Historical Relics, the Hall of Gansu Natural Resources, the Hall of Jiayuguan Murals of Wei and Jin Period, the Hall of the Yellow River Ancient Elephants, and the Hall of Red Army's Long March via Gansu.



Binglingsi Grottoes – “Bingling” means “thousand Buddhas” or “ten-thousand Buddhas” in the Tibetan language. Located on the Small Jishi Hill 75kms from Lanzhou, Binglingsi Grottoes is one of the best preserved collections of Buddhist cave art in all of China. The stone sculptures in Binglingsi Grottoes represent the social situations and customs during ancient times. After the founding of People’s Republic of China, the State Council designed the site as a key cultural relic, and placed it under state protection.



Travel Tips:
Lanzhou, the city with the mixture of Buddha and Muslim, you can easily seen the onion dome mosque and Buddhist tempe.

Questions & Answers: