Gansu province is located at a place with a varied topography, where Loess Plateau, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Inner Mongolian Plateau meet. Most of the middle and east part of it is of special loess topography, the Hexi (or Gansu) Corridor (in northwestern Gansu) is of green land and Gobi Desert intermittently spread. The southwest part is of high terrain, which is the border area of northeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. To the west of Wu Qiao Ridge is inner flowing area while to the east of it is outer flowing area which belong to two river systems of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River respectively.

The climate of Gansu province category is intricate which has eight different climate areas. The annual average temperature is about 0 to 15C. The lowest temperature occurs in January and is approximately -14 to 3C and the highest temperature is in July between 22 and 25C. Average annual rainfall is between 30 to 860 millimeters. The quantity of ore reservation for non-ferrous metals like nickel, lead and zinc etc. occupies important position in the whole country. The province abounds in coal, iron, copper, sulphur, gypsum, marble and mirabilite reservation as well.

So far as the industries are concerned, there are equipment manufacture for petroleum, chemical industry, non-ferrous metals and petrochemical industry, all of which have occupied the important position in the whole country. The agricultural products include mainly wheat, cotton, flax and sugar beet, among which flax occupies important position in the country. The main communication instrument is railway, but the highway is important as well.

Gansu province was the place where the main traffic line in ancient time between China and western countries, the famous Silk Road, passed through.

With a long history and brilliant cultures, Gansu is abundantly endowed with cultural relics and natural scenery. Vast and graceful natural scenery like endless desert and pure glacial landscape presents an impressive and breath-taking picture before your eyes. Take for example the world-famous Mogao Grottoes. It is the largest and most well-preserved Buddhist art palace and also a post along the ancient Silk Road; the grand Jiayuguan Pass, an important outpost in ancient China, is the western end of the Great Wall; the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist resorts in China while the Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves in Lanzhou are a treasure trove of Han Buddhism.