Location: located in the Gobi desert, at the middle of Hexi Corridor, 600 kilometers from Lanzhou, 5 - 6 hours away by bus from Dunhaung

Neighboring Areas: Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia Hui and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions

Population: 130,000
Area: 2,935 square kilometers (1,133 square miles)

Nationalities: Han, Hui, Tibetan, Dongxiang, Yugu, Baoan, Hazake, Tu, Sala, Manchu, and Mongolian

History: historically, a small township engaged in local trading, catering to the needs of the military garrisons stationed at the fort; as a Han outpost and in 1372, during the Ming Dynasty, a fortress was built to protect the last frontier of the Chinese empire

Climatic Features: warm variable zone, aridity climate with the frost-free period of 160 days

Average Temperature: January with temperature as low as - 21C (-5.8F), August with temperature as high as 34C (93F); Sandstorm - March to May; Strong Wind - November and December; annually with the highest of 38.7C (101.7F) and lowest of 0C (32F), annual and daily difference in temperature great.

Rainfall: annual precipitation 100 millimeters, with rainfall concentrated in summer

 Mountains: Qilianshan Range

Rivers: Beidahe River

Products: wheat, corn, millet, buckwheat, jowar, white potato, potato, cotton, benne, beet, tobacco, stock raising

Local Highlights: Qinqiang Drama, Jiuquan Cup of phosphorescent jade, handcraft carpet