Atlas of China
Lanzhou 兰州Lánzhōu
Beef noodles, waterwheels and a 1909 iron bridge on the Yellow River
About Lanzhou
Lanzhou, the provincial capital, stretches along the Yellow River in a narrow valley between loess hills and was long a river crossing on the Silk Road. The Zhongshan Bridge, built by a German firm in 1909 as Lanzhou's first permanent bridge over the river, leads to Jincheng Pass, replica waterwheels turn on the south bank and temples climb the slopes of Five Springs Park. Beyond the city lie the forests of Xinglong Mountain, the old houses of Qingcheng and the Lu Tusi Yamen at Liancheng.
What to eat in Lanzhou
- Lanzhou beef noodles (兰州牛肉面)
Listed sites in Lanzhou
19 sites in Lanzhou are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.
- Hekou Ancient Town 河口古镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A former Yellow River ferry and trading town on the western edge of Lanzhou, where the Zhuanglang River joins the Yellow River, restored since 2014 as a historic district around Hekou village. - Jincheng Pass Cultural Park 金城关 4A scenic area · on the map
A riverside cultural park on the north bank of the Yellow River at the foot of Baita Mountain, centred on a reconstruction of Jincheng Pass, the fortified gate that guarded the old river crossing. - Lanzhou Shuimo Danxia 水墨丹霞 4A scenic area · on the map
A badlands landscape of banded red and grey hills in Shuping town in the north-west of Lanzhou municipality, opened on a trial basis in 2020 after the brickworks that once dug its red clay were closed. - Lanzhou Waterwheel Expo Park 兰州水车博览园 4A scenic area · on the map
A riverside culture park on the south bank of the Yellow River, opened in 2005 to recall the giant wooden waterwheels that once lined the river at Lanzhou, lifting water to irrigate the fields along its banks. - Qingcheng Ancient Town 青城古镇 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
An old river town on the Yellow River at the northern tip of Yuzhong County, listed as a national historic and cultural town, whose Ming-to-Republican courtyard houses are protected as a national heritage site. - Qiyun Pastoral Town, Yuzhong 栖云田园小镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A rural leisure complex built around Lijiazhuang village on the edge of Yuzhong county town, with flower fields, farm restaurants, guesthouses, play attractions for children and craft workshops. - Renshou Mountain, Anning 仁寿山 4A scenic area · on the map
A hill park on the north side of Anning District in western Lanzhou, set among peach orchards. - Shichuan Ancient Pear Orchard 什川古梨园 4A scenic area · on the map
An orchard of centuries-old pear trees on the Yellow River flats around Shichuan town in Gaolan County, where the Ming set up a garrison fort in 1495. - Shifogou National Forest Park 石佛沟 4A scenic area · on the map
A national forest park in the wooded hills of Agan town on the southern edge of Lanzhou, the closest of the city's forest parks. - Tulugou National Forest Park 吐鲁沟 4A scenic area · on the map
A national forest park in Liancheng town in the north-west of Yongdeng County, where gorges, streams, waterfalls and dense forest make it one of Lanzhou's main summer retreats. - Western Dinosaur Water Park, Lanzhou New Area 西部恐龙水乐园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large water park in Lanzhou New Area, about 7 km south of Zhongchuan Airport, built in 2017 as part of a resort district developed with the company behind Changzhou's China Dinosaurs Park. - Xinglong Mountain 兴隆山 4A scenic area · on the map
A forested mountain range in Yuzhong County south-east of Lanzhou, protected as a national nature reserve since 1988, whose seven peaks rise to 3,021 m. - Five Springs Park (Wuquan Mountain) 五泉山 National heritage site
A hillside park on the northern slopes of Gaolan Mountain in southern Lanzhou, named after five springs that legend says appeared when the Han general Huo Qubing struck the ground with his whip. - Former Lanzhou Office of the Eighth Route Army 八路军兰州办事处旧址 National heritage site · on the map
The Eighth Route Army's office in Lanzhou from August 1937 to November 1943, during the wartime cooperation between the Communists and the Nationalists against Japan. - Gan'en Temple, Hongcheng 红城感恩寺 National heritage site · on the map
A Tibetan Buddhist temple built in Chinese style in Hongcheng town, founded in 1492–1494 by the fifth Lu chieftain of Liancheng and named Gan'en ('Gratitude') by the Hongzhi Emperor in 1495. - Jintian Taoist Temple 金天观 National heritage site · on the map
A Taoist temple complex founded in 1400 outside the old west gate of Lanzhou, whose surviving halls, mostly of Qing date, stand on three parallel axes. - Lanzhou Prefecture City God Temple 兰州府城隍庙 National heritage site
Lanzhou's City God temple, dedicated like Tianshui's to the Han general Ji Xin, dates back at least to the Song and took its present layout after a rebuilding in 1837. - Lu Tusi Yamen and Miaoyin Temple 鲁土司衙门 National heritage site · on the map
The seat of the Lu chieftains, descendants of a Mongol Yuan prince who submitted to the Ming and ruled Liancheng for nineteen generations until 1931, with a residence first built in 1378. - Zhongshan Bridge 中山桥 National heritage site
Lanzhou's best-known landmark, a steel truss bridge across the Yellow River completed in 1909 by a German firm as the first permanent bridge over the river at Lanzhou, replacing a pontoon bridge on the same crossing.
Getting to Lanzhou
Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.
On the map
Open Lanzhou on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.
Open Lanzhou on the map