LAN-CHOU

Pinyin Lanzhou, conventional Lanchow, city, capital of Kansu province (sheng), China. It is situated on the upper course of the Huang Ho (Yellow River), where the river emerges from the mountains. Lan-chou has been a centre since early times, being at the southern end of the route leading via the Kansu Corridor across Central Asia; it also commands the approaches to the ancient capital area of Ch'ang-an (modern Sian) in Shensi province from both the west and the northwest, as well as from the area of Koko Nor (Koko Lake) via the upper waters of the Huang Ho and its tributaries. Originally in the territory of the Western Ch'iang peoples, Lan-chou became part of the territory of Ch'in in the 6th century BC. In 81 BC, under the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220), it became the seat of Chin-ch'eng hsien (county) and later of Chin-ch'eng chn (commandery), the county being renamed Yn-wu. In the 4th century it was briefly the capital of the independent state of Earlier Liang. The Northern Wei dynasty (386534) reestablished Chin-ch'eng commandery, renaming the county Tzu-ch'eng. Under the Sui dynasty (581618) the city became the seat of Lan-chou prefecture for the first time, retaining this name under the T'ang dynasty (618907). In 763 the area was overrun by the Tibetans and was then recovered by the T'ang in 843. Later it fell into the hands of the Hsi-Hsia (Tangut) dynasty (which flourished in Tsinghai from the 11th to 13th century) and was subsequently recovered by the Sung dynasty (9601126) in 1041. The name Lan-chou was reestablished, and the county renamed Lan-chuan. After 1127 it fell into the hands of the Juchen dynasty, and after 1235 it came into the possession of the Mongols. Under the Ming dynasty (13681644) the prefecture was demoted to a county and placed under the administration of Lin-t'ao superior prefecture, but in 1477 Lan-chou was reestablished as a political unit. In 1739 the seat of Lin-t'ao was transferred to Lan-chou, which was later made a superior prefecture called Lan-chou. When Kansu became a separate province in 1666, Lan-chou became its capital. The city was badly damaged during the rising of Kansu Muslims in 186475; in the 1920s and '30s it became a centre of Soviet influence in northwestern China. During the Sino-Japanese War (193745) Lan-chou, linked with Sian (Hsi-an) by highway in 1935, became the terminus of the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) Chinese-Soviet highway, used as a route for Soviet supplies destined for the Sian area. This highway remained the chief traffic artery of northwestern China until the completion of the railway from Lan-chou to Urumchi (Wu-lu-mu-ch'i) in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang. During the war Lan-chou was heavily bombed by the Japanese. Since 1949 Lan-chou has been transformed from the capital of a poverty-stricken province into the centre of a major industrial area. The Lung-hai Railway line was extended westward to Lan-chou from T'ien-shui by 1953. Later Lan-chou was linked with Peking via Pao-t'ou in Inner Mongolia, and lines have also been constructed northwest to Urumchi and westward via Hai-yen on Koko Nor to Golmud (in Tsinghai). There is a thermal generating plant supplied with coal from fields in Tsinghai. In addition, there is a hydroelectric station at Chu-la-ma Gorge in Kansu, and a large multipurpose dam has been built in the Liu-chia Gorge on the Huang Ho above Lan-chou. The city is a centre of the petrochemical industry and has a large refinery linked to the fields at Y-men by pipeline; it also manufactures equipment for the oil industry. In addition, Lan-chou produces locomotives and rolling stock for the northwestern railways, as well as machine tools and mining equipment. Aluminum products, industrial chemicals, and fertilizers are produced on a large scale, and there is a large rubber industry. Copper is mined in nearby Kao-lan. Lan-chou remains the collecting centre and market for agricultural produce and livestock from a wide area. It has a textile industry, particularly noted for the production of woolens. Leather goods are also produced. Since the 1960s Lan-chou has become the centre of China's atomic energy industry. The city is the cultural centre of Kansu and the seat of Lan-chou University (founded 1909). The National Minorities Institute at Lan-chou and a number of scientific institutes are also located there. Pop. (1990) 1,194,640.