Moments of Brilliance: Legends by the Yellow River at Baitashan #· 6
Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, is one of the regional center cities in western China.
In the second year of Emperor Qianyuan of the Tang Dynasty (759), Lanzhou was also renamed Jinzhou, with the prefecture seat located in Wufen, governing the counties of Guangwu and Shiqiwu.
Lanzhou was once an important node city on the Silk Road. With the development of the Silk Road, it gradually grew into an important transportation hub and trade logistics center.
The ancient Silk Road left many cultural relics and diverse historical cultures, attracting a large number of domestic and international tourists for sightseeing. There are famous attractions in the city center, such as Zhongshan Bridge, Baitashan, and Wufen Mountain Park. Unfortunately, it is West Lake Park, Xiaoxi Lake Park is located on the east side of Qili River, between West Jin Road and Binhe Middle Road, originally a garden of the Prince of Xixia, named ‘West Garden’. In 1880, the Governor-General Yang Changjun transferred from Zhejiang to Gansu and rebuilt it for ‘Lotus Moonlight’. According to the ‘Lanzhou Prefecture Gazetteer’, the lake is about 500 meters long from east to west and about 200 meters wide from north to south, with the Yellow River along the north side, surrounded by reeds and egrets swimming.
Lanzhou people often compared it to West Lake in Hangzhou, implying that they never forget their hometown. It was renamed ‘Xiaoxi Lake’. It is said that there were many of them in the late Qing and Republic of China, with pavilions and towers, and some celebrities inscribed words. Now, there are only a few remaining ancient legends and incomplete memories here.
Picture:
A corner of Xiaoxi Lake Park
Picture:
Below Baitashan, Yellow River bank
Taking Lanzhou as an example of a western city, the natural environment is generally good, located at an altitude, Lanzhou's urban area is at an altitude of about 1500, located at the junction of the Three Great Plateaus – the Inner Mongolia Plateau, the Tibetan Plateau, and the Loess Plateau.
This unique landform of Gansu Province, the Yellow River, has created the habitat for birds, rich in resources, and is an important channel for the migration of mid-Asian birds, including geese, ducks, cranes, and many other bird species.
Due to the changes in landform and the increase in population, the ecological environment of the Yellow River banks and the Yellow River basin has degraded. The various bird species that were rarely seen in the past are now back to playing around in the river as before.
Picture:
Yellow River bank on the city outskirts
Every winter, you can see red mandarin ducks, green-headed ducks, brown-headed gulls, and many unnamed species playing and having fun on the riverbank in the city.
Picture:
Scenery in Silver Beach Wetland Park, Lanzhou City District
Written by/Photography by,
Tian Di Xinmin·@Westland Off-Road Self-Driving Tour
Location:
In Silver Beach Wetland Park in the city center
In the past, people often told stories after tea and dinner, how it was back then, how how… very very far away like a legend.
Thus, this legend has become reality, and bird species have returned to their home, people, nature, and humans live in harmony, and people's dreams are getting closer, this is no longer the legend people often talked about.
Picture:
Yellow River Valley today - network photos
Friends, if you haven't been to Lanzhou yet, I invite you to listen to this story, come to Lanzhou in these scorching hot days to escape the heat, while climbing Baitashan or Lan Shan to overlook the city, take a look at the Yellow River passing through the city and the beautiful scenery along the Yellow River. Beautiful Lanzhou is right in front of you…
