Lanzhou

Lanzhou (Chinese: 兰州; [lǎnʈʂóʊ]) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. A prefecture-level city, it is a key regional transportation hub, allowing areas further west to maintain railroad connections to the eastern half of the country. Lanzhou is home to 3,616,163 inhabitants at the 2010 census and 2,177,130 in the built-up area (urban) of 1,088 square kilometres (420 sq mi).

History

Originally in the territory of the Western Qiang peoples, Lanzhou became part of the territory of the State of Qin in the 6th century BC.

In 81 BC, under the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), it was taken from the Huns' Huandi Chanyu and made the seat of Jincheng commandery (jùn), and later of the Jincheng county (xiàn), later renamed Yunwu. The city used to be called the Golden City, and since at least the first millennium BC it was a major link on the ancient Northern Silk Road, and also an important historic Yellow River crossing site. To protect the city, the Great Wall of China was extended as far as Yumen.

Lanzhou (modern Shanxi)

Lanzhou or Lan Prefecture (嵐州) was a zhou (prefecture) in imperial China seated in modern Lan County in Shanxi, China. It existed (intermittently) from 623 to 1369.

Geography

The administrative region of Lanzhou in the Tang dynasty is in Shanxi. It probably includes parts of modern:

References