甘肃概况ASurveyofGansuGansuProvince,lyingintheupperreachesoftheYellowRiver,isintheheartofChina.Tellyouitsneighbors.NeighboringShaanxitotheeastandSichuanonthesouth,GansuisadjacenttoQinghaiandXinjiangbythewestandlinkedupwithNingxiaandInnerMongoliainthenorth.TheoutlineofGansuisshappedlikeanddumbbell,whichmeansit’sverylongfromeasttowest,butatthenarrowestplace,thenorth-southdistanceisonly25kilometers.InancientChina,Gansu’simportantgeographicalpositionmadeGansuakeyjunctioninancientSilkRoad.Nowtellyousomenumbers.Gansucoversanareaof390,000squarekilometers,takingupabout4.72%ofthetotallandterritoriesofChina.Andtheprovincehasapopulationofaround25.18millionconsistingof44ethnicminoritiesandmostofthemareHui,Tibetan,andDongxiangethnicpeople.Undertheadministrationoftheprovinceare14cities,prefecturesandautonomousprefecturesconsistingof86countrieswithLanzhouasthecapitalcityoftheprovince.Climate:ClimateinGansuprovincehasspecificfeatures.Belongingtonorthtemperatemonsoonclimate,featuringadistinctivetransitionaltendencytocontinentalclimate.Dryandshortofrainitseesgreatdifferencesintemperature.Thedistinctivefeaturesofthefourseasonsareasfollows:Lackofrainandsnowinwinterwithlongertimecoldbutthespringwitnessesafastriseoftemperatureandadrasticchangeofwarmandcolddays.Itishotinsummerwithaconcentrationofrainfallsandtheautumnfeaturesaquickfallingoftemperatureandanearlyfrostfall.However,comparedwithothercitiesinChina,citiesofGansuarecoolinsummer,sosummerisappropriateforyourtravel.ResourcesandMountains:ThegeomorphologyinGansuisquitecomplicatedfeaturingmountains,plateaus,plains,river-valleysanddesertsandGobiaswell.Moreover,Gansu’sgreatplateausandmountainshaveplentifulmineralresources.Thesetreasuresarewidelyspreadovertheprovinceinlargequantitiesofhighgradeandgoodquality.Theminingconditionsarealsofavorable.Rivers:“ThewateroftheYellowRivercomesfromtheheavens”,wrotebyLiBai,afamouspoetoftheTangDynastyofancientChina.TheYellowriver,knownasthemotherriverofChina,togetherwithotherriversprovideGansuwithabundantwaterpowerresources.Largehydropowerstationsaredottedhereandtherelikebrightstars.TheyproduceelectricalpowerdayandnightforthedevelopmentofGansu’seconomy.Youknowtherearemanyfavorableadvantagesforwaterpowerdevelopmentsuchaslessinundation,convenienttransportation,comparativelylowinvestmentcosts,andshortertimeforreturnontheinvestment.Cultureandethnicminority:Gansuhasalonghistory.Inancienttimes,especiallyintheHanandTangDynasties,Gansu,asanimportantpassageway,madegreatcontributionstothecultureexchangeandcommercialtradebetweenChinaandwesterncountries.AlongtheSilkRoadcanstillbeseenmanyancientgrottoes,structuresandotherhistoricorculturalrelics.Uptonow,morethanonethousandsuchrelicshavebeenfoundbelongingtodifferenthistoricperiods.Gansuisamultinationalprovince.LivingintheprovinceareHui,Tibet,Mongol,Yugur,Dongxiang,Manchu,atotalofover44minoritieswithapopulationofaround1.5million.Inaddition,theethnicDongxiang,YugurandBonanarethethreeuniqueethnicminoritiesinGansuProvince.TouristResources:GansuliesattheeasternsectionoftheSilkRoad,whichextendssome1,600kilometersintheprecinctoftheprovince.Soithasleftovermanyfootprintsofhistoricalfiguresandcolorfultouristresources,suchasMogaoGrottoesinDunhuang,MaijiMountainGrottoesinTianshui,BinglingTempleinYongjiCountry,aswellasJiayuPassknownas“MagnificentPassunderheaven”,whichisthewesternendoftheGreatWallandsomeotherattractionsallalongtheway.Besidestherearestillsomelocalspecialproducts,refreshmentsandethnicfolkcustomsthatareallherewaitingforyoutomakeanappreciationofthem.Finally,thesatellite-launchingcenteratJiuquanisaspotofgreatimportancecatchingtheworldattention.ItisthegloryandprideoftheChinesenation.炳灵寺BinglingTempleBinglingTempleGrottoislocatedontheSmallJishiHill,about35kilometers(about22miles)westofYongjingCountyinLanzhouCity.BeingoneoftheverynotedfourcavesinChina,itisthesecondtoMogaoCavesinrespectofartisticvalue.TheBinglingTempleGrottoislocatedatatransportationhubonafeederlineoftheancientSilkRoadleadingfromChinatothewesterncountries.BuddhistsstartedtocavegrottoesandsculptureasearlyasthewesternJinDynasty.DuringtheperiodoftheSixteenstates,thenoblesoftheXianbeienthnictribleestablishedtheWesternQinRegimehere.TheywerefortheBuddhistcultandsomanyeminentmonksfrominlandandwesternregionsswarmedtotheplace,preachingandsermonizing.TheDasiValleyintheMinorJishiHillswithintheterritoryoftheWesternQin,namelytheareawhereBinglingTemplelocatedcametobetheBuddhistvenueofthetime.Accordingtohistoricalrecords,theBinglingLowerTempleusedtobecalledtheLingyanTempleduringtheTang(618-917)andMing(1368-1644)dynasties.BinglingisaTibtanexpression,whichmeans“tenthousandBuddha”andequivalentto“ThousandBuddhaHill”or“TenthousandBuddhacave”ofliterarytranslationinChinese.TheformalconstructionoftheBinglingTempletookplaceinthe420,thefirstyearunderthereignoftheWesternQindynasty.AnditwascarriedonduringtheensuingdynastiesofNorthernWei,NorthernZhou,SuiandTang,andmuralsanddecorationsweremadeevenintheYuanandaMingdynasties.Soithasahistoryof1,600years.Therearenow183niches,694stonest