Zhangye city

Updated: 2013-10-18
( travelchinaguide.com )

Population: 1.2 million

Total Area: 41,924 square kilometers (16,177 square miles)

Nationalities: Han, Yugu, Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian, Zhuang, Uygur

Zip Code: 734000 Area Code: 0936

Administrative Division: one district (Ganzhou district) and five counties (Linze county, Gaotai county, Shandan county, Minle county and Sunan Yugur autonomous county)

Location: situated in the western part of Gansu province, midway through Hexi Corridor; located between 97 20'-102 12' east longitude and 37 28'-39 57' north latitude.

Overview: Situated in the northwestern part of Gansu province, midway through the Hexi Corridor and bordering Inner Mongolia in the north, the city of Zhangye covers an area of 41,924 square kilometers. It has an elevation of 1,200 - 5,565 meters.It has a number of rivers and is a national base of grain, fruit and vegetables. The city's administrative division includes one district (Ganzhou district) and five counties -- Shandan, Minle, Linze, Gaotai and the Sunan Yugur autonomous county.By the end of 2011, the city had a population of 1.2 million with a total of 38 ethnic groups, including Han, Hui, Tibetan and Yugu. Most of China's Yugu people live in the city.

History: anciently named Ganzhou, Zhangye was a famous commercial port on the Silk Road and one of the biggest international trade markets in the country. Merchants from the west continuously arrived here for trading. Irrigation from the Black and Shandan rivers makes agriculture here quite well-developed. It has gained the reputation of "lush southern-type fields in the desert".

Climatic Features: continental climate with average sunlight of over 3000 hours annually; coldest in January and hottest in July, and the comfortable time for travel is from June to September. Average Temperature: 7 C annually Rainfall: annual average rainfall 104 millimeters-459 millimeters (4 inches-18 inches)

Resources: Zhangye is a mineral cluster for metal minerals, energy minerals and non-metallic minerals, including metallurgical and chemical materials.The large proven reserves of coal, tungsten, molybdenum, iron, gypsum, attapulgite, and potash play an important role in local economic and social development. There are 33 kinds of mineral resources within the city.

Zhangye is home to a collection of more than 577 cultural relics, including 13 national nature reserves, two national 4A level scenic spots and Asia's largest desert reservoir.The city has 577 historic sites, including 13 important units of cultural relics under national protection and 47 units of cultural relics under the provincial level. It has a collection of more than 30,000 cultural relics.The famous tourist attractions in the city include China’s largest indoor clay sleeping Buddha in the Giant Buddha Temple, the Wooden Tower of the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) and many tombs of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).It is blessed with many natural resources, and a number of natural landmarks including glaciers, oases, deserts, forests and grasslands.

The Qiyi Glacier in the Sunan Yugur autonomous county is the closest glacier to an Asian city. The Danxia landform in Linze and Sunan is one of the seven most beautiful landscapes of unique petromorphic geomorphology. It is found only in China.

The Shandan Horse Farm served as a royal horse farm since the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24). Now, it is the largest in Asia and the second largest in the world.

In 1986, Zhangye was listed as one of China’s historical-cultural cities and a recommended tourism city by the National Tourism Administration of China.

Economy: In 2011, Zhangye's GDP reached 25.66 billion yuan ($4.19 billion), up 13.2 percent year-on-year. The primary industry had a total added value of 7.2 billion yuan, an increase of 19.7 percent year-on-year, The secondary industry added value totaled 9.6 billion yuan, an increase of 19.7 percent. The tertiary industry added value totaled 8.86 billion yuan, up 12.6 percent year-on-year.

The total industrial added value in 2011 was 7.18 billion yuan, an increase of 22 percent year-on-year. Of the total added value, the industrial sector realized 5.78 billion yuan, up 23 percent year-on-year.

Investment in fixed assets amounted to 14.53 billion yuan, an increase of 34.4 percent. Total retail sales of social consumption goods reached 8.03 billion yuan, up 18.6 percent.

The city's general budget revenue was 1.03 billion yuan, an increase of 35.37 percent year-on-year. Total spending was 8.1 billion yuan, up 23.6 percent.

Agriculture Zhangye has a group of advantageous agricultural products, including corn seeds, potatoes, beef and vegetables. The city has built an industrial base for these products with an area of 1.97 square kilometers, accounting for 92 percent of the total farm land.

In 2011, a total of 12 leading processing enterprises were put into operation with a total investment of 376 million yuan. Each of them had investment of more than 10 million yuan. The number of leading agricultural producers that realized annual sales income of 20 million yuan reached 62, accounting for 51.7 percent of large industrial enterprises. Processing enterprises consumed 1.92 million tons of agricultural products, and the industrialization rate of products reached 54.9 percent.

Living The average annual disposable income of each urban resident in Zhangye is 12,400 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1,545 yuan or 14.2 percent. The average consumption of an urban resident is 11,024 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.56 percent.

Social undertaking: By the end of 2011, the city had 21,400 technicians in various State-run institutions and five research institutes. Spending on scientific and technological development reached 45.82 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.31 percent. The city has made 62 scientific and technological achievements at the provincial and municipal level. The awarded projects totaled 78, up 11.4 percent year-on-year.

It filed 162 patent applications in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 68.8 percent. It had 89 authorized patents, double the amount of the previous year. It also granted patent rights for 20 inventions, a year-on-year growth of 17.7 percent. A total of 25 contracts on technology were signed, with a turnover of 510 million yuan, up 21.4 percent year-on-year. Zhangye had six art performance troupes, six libraries, six museums, seven archives and six culture service centers as of 2011. By the end of 2011, it had a total of 29 hospitals, 2,205 clinical physicians or assistant doctors, and 1,698 nurses.