GENERAL
INFORMATION ABOUT JIUQUAN
Jiuquan, or Wine Spring,is a major stopover
on the "Silk Road" northwestwards from Lanzhou,
capital
of Gansu Province. From the second century B.C., commissioners
and high-ranking officers were dispatched by the rulers of
Western Han Dynasty (306 B.C.- 34 A.D.) to develop the region.
As the traffic along the "Silk Road" became busier and more important, the prefecture
of Jiuquan was established more than 1,600 years ago to protect
this vital artery. On a triumphant expedition, as legend has it, Huo Qubing, a celebrated
commander of the Western Han army, visited the town with his
troops. Emperor Wudi had decreed that they feast on wine,
but there was not enough to go round. Commander Huo then poured his cup of wine into a spring so
that it could be shared with his soldiers. That was how the city
got its name.
The city's Drum tower, erected in
343, used to be called "Night Watchman's Tower"
on the east city gate. As the city expanded, it was edged
into the inner city and its name was changed to "Drum
Tower." It is the only remaining structure of the many
Marco Polo praised in his writings.
A few miles away from the city stands the Jiayuguan
Pass, the western end of the Great Wall. The Great Wall used to end at
Yumen (about 50 miles to the west of Jiayuguan) before the
pass was abandoned during the Ming Dynasty. The walls in the
northwest region were originally constructed under the Han,
and remains of the Han wall have been found near Dunhuang,
but the portions of the wall standing at Jiayuguan date from
the early Ming, and are about six centuries old. Standing
on the terrace of the gate tower, one can look back at the
wall winding its way along the mountain ridges. To the south
are the snow-capped Qilian Mountains, and to the west, the
desert.
In a tomb chamber at Dingjiazha, Jiuquan, are
some of the country's earliest murals, dating back to the
East Jin Dynasty (317-430 A. D.).
China's first launch center, also known as Shuang
Cheng Tzu. Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, situated at 100
degrees East, 41 degrees North, is located in the Jiuquan
Region, Gansu province, north-western China. It was China's
first ballistic missile and satellite launch centre. The Jiuquan
Airport was 75 km south of the site. A dedicated railway at
Jiuquan went directly to the launch site. Jiuquan?s facilities
provided support for every phase of a satellite launch campaign.
It included the Technical Centre, the Launch Complex, the
Launch Control Centre, the Mission Command and Control Centre,
propellant fuelling system, tracking systems, communications
systems, gas supply systems, weather forecast systems, and
logistic support systems. Jiuquan was originally used to launch
scientific and recoverable satellites into medium or low earth
orbits at high inclinations.
SHOPPING
- LOCAL SPECIALITY OF JIUQUAN
Most of the cities in Gansu are well prepared
for tourists. As well as the usual China trinkets, things
to buy include local specialties: Dunhuang pottery pieces,
Tao ink stone, Jiayuguan ink stone, luminous jade cup of Jiuquan,
carved lacqureware of Tianshui, Yellow River Stone Arts, Waist-knife
of Bao'an minority, and carpets and blankets of Gansu, etc.
Gansu is rich in specialties like rose, lily bulb, melons
and fruits, water melon seeds, Huaniu Apple and Black Moss,
etc. Over 900 species of Chinese traditional medicinal herbs
around Gansu are mainly in the southern part, angelica root,
licorice root, rhubarb, codonopsis pilosula and milk vetch
are the most famous. |
