Jiayuguan

Jiayuguan sits in the northwest of Gansu province, west of the Hexi Corridor. It was an important link in the ancient Silk Road and represented the beginning of the western end of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It integrates Silk Road and Great Wall cultures and is well-known for its impregnable geographic conditions. The city has well-developed industries and a strong tourism business. It is home to Jiuquan Iron and Steel (Group) Co, the largest company of its kind in Northwest China. The city was established in 1965 and became an integral part of the Eurasian Continental Bridge. It set up Changcheng, Jingtie and Xiongguan districts in December 2009. The city covers an area of 3,000 square kilometers, with a planned downtown area of 260 sq km. It has a population of 230,000 and an urbanization rate of 93.9 percent.

Location: Jiayuguan city is located at 98°17' east longitude and 39°47' north latitude. It lies in the Gobi desert, at the middle of Hexi Corridor, 776 kilometers away from Lanzhou and 5 - 6 hours away by bus from Dunhuang.

Neighboring Areas: Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia Hui and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions

History: Jiayuguan has a history over 630 years. In 1372, during the Ming Dynasty, a fortress was built to protect the last frontier of the Chinese empire. It was completely built up in 1540 and became a small township engaged in local trading, catering to the needs of the military garrisons stationed at the fort. The city was used to be the pass of the famous Silk Road and the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty.

Climatic Features: Jiayuguan possesses a continental desert climate, warm and aridity with the frost-free period of 160 days. The average temperature is about 6.7C (44F) – 7.7C (18.1F), of which the lowest temperature is -21C (-5.8F) in January and the highest is 34C (93F) in July. It has an annual precipitation of 100 millimeters, with rainfall concentrated in summer. The weather is sandstorm from March to May and strong wind from November to December.When to Go: The most suitable time is from May to October, because the weather is the most favorable of the year at that period.

Eonomy: In 2011, the city's GDP totaled 23.56 billion yuan ($3.87 million), an increase of 17.4 percent over the previous year. The primary industry's added value reached 310 million yuan, up 8.0 percent year-on-year. The secondary industry's added value totaled 19.3 billion yuan, up 18.8 percent year-on-year. The tertiary industry's added value reached 3.95 billion yuan, up 12.2 percent year-on-year. For the wholesale and retail industry, added value totaled 995 million yuan, up 12.3 percent year-on-year. The finance and insurance industry saw added value reach 340 million yuan, up 14.5 percent year-on-year.