This article or section should include material from Gansu, China

甘肃省
Gānsù Shěng

Abbreviations: 甘 or 陇 (pinyin: Gān or Lǒng)
Origin of Name	甘 gān - Ganzhou (Zhangye) 肃 sù - Suzhou (Jiuquan)
Administration Type	Province
Capital and Largest City	Lanzhou
CPC Gansu Committee Secretary	Su Rong
Governor	Lu Hao
Area	454,000 km² (7th)
Population (2002)  - Density	25,930,000 (22nd) 57.1/km² (27th)
GDP (2002)  - per capita	116.1 billion ¥ (27th) 4479 ¥ (30th)
Major Nationalities (2000)	Han - 91% Hui - 5% Dongxiang - 2% Tibetan - 2%
Prefecture-level divisions	14
County-level divisions	86
Township-level divisions	1569
ISO 3166-2	CN-62

Gansu (Simplified Chinese: 甘肃; Traditional Chinese: 甘肅; pinyin: Gānsù; Wade-Giles: Kan-su, or modified as Kan-suh) 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. The Huang He river passes the southern part of the province. It has a population of approximately 25 million (1997) and has a large concentration of Hui Chinese. The capital of the province is Lanzhou.

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.

Administration

There are 14 administrative areas immediately below Gansu: 12 prefecture-level cities and two autonomous prefectures:

• Baiyin City (白银 Báiyín)
• Dingxi City (定西 Dìngxī)
• Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (甘南藏族 : Gānnán Zāngzú)
• Jiayuguan City (嘉峪关 : Jiāyùguān)
• Jinchang City (金昌 : Jīnchāng)
• Jiuquan City (酒泉 : Jiǔquán)
• Lanzhou City (兰州 : Lánzhōu)
• Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture (临夏回族 : Línxià Huízú)
• Longnan City (陇南 : Lǒngnán)
• Pingliang City (平凉 : Píngliàng)
• Qingyang City (庆阳 : Qìngyáng)
• Tianshui City (天水 : Tiānshuǐ)
• Wuwei City (武威 : Wǔwēi)
• Zhangyi City (张掖 : Zhāngyì)

History

Gansu is the acronym first used in Song China, of two Sui and Tang prefectures (州): Gan (around Zhangyi) and Su (around Jiuquan).

Geography

Gansu province has an area of 390,000 km², and the majority of its land is above 1 km over sea level. It lies between Qingzang, Inner Mongolia, and the Huangtu Plateaus, and borders Mongolia to the north. The Huang He river passes the southern part of the province.

Part of the Gobi Desert is located in Gansu.

Neighboring provinces: Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Sichuan, Shanxi and Ningxia.

Cities:

• Lanzhou
• Tianshui
• Yumen
• Jiayuguan
• Dunhuang
• Pingliang
• Jinchang

Economy

Demographics

Gansu has a large concentration of Hui Chinese.

Culture

Within China, Gansu is known for its pulled noodles, and Muslim restaurants which feature authentic Gansu cusine are a common in most major Chinese cities.

Tourism

Places of Interest:

• Mogao Caves (World Heritage Site)
• Jiayuguan (Jiayu Pass) of Great Wall of China

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.

Miscellaneous topics

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is located in the Gobi desert in Gansu Province.

Colleges and universities

• Lanzhou University (Lanzhou)

External links

• 甘肅省人民政府網站 (Gansu People's Government Website) (http://www.gansu.gov.cn) (in Simplified Chinese)