Lanzhou

Proud of its long history, Ganzu is one of the cradles of Chinese ancient civilization. It is the birthplace of Fu Xi, the Chinere ancestor well known for its great inventions in Eight-digram, charcters and calendar. The initial farming also appeared here in earlier Zhou period, 3000 years agao. The cultural relics in Ganzu fall mainly into the Neolithic culture, the Yellow River culture, and the Great Wall culture representing the history of the civilization of the Chinese people for 8000 year. Meanwhiel, the Silk Road culture in Ganzu has drawn attention from other parts.

Gansu has always been a must along Silk Road, and an important thoroughfare of culture and trade between China and the west. Over the past 2000 year, from the loess plateau in the east to the Gobi-desert in the west, there had been groups of famous figures like envoy Zhang Qian, mond Xuan Zang and Marco Polo advancing through mountains and over rivers.

Gansu is reputed as the Golden Section along the road, and regarded as "The Hometown of Grotto Arts." The most popular ones are Mogao Grattoes, Maijiashan Grottoes and Bingling Si Grottoes. In addition, there are many attractive historical sites along the Silk Road, such as temples, monasteries, Great Wall, towers, pagodas, tablets and ancient castles. The majestic and charming natural sceneary in Gansu, include the endliess plateau prairie, vast expanse of Gobi-desert, magnificent loess plateau and grotesque Danxia landform as well as snow-capped mountains.