Chinanews.com, Lanzhou, November 28 (Reporter Ding Si) "The desert is lonely, and the long river sets in the sun." "Out of the Great Wall to the north, barren pine and sunset are less crowded", "Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows, the spring breeze doesn't pass Yumen Pass"... …From ancient times to the present, deserts, Gobi, frontier fortresses, camels, and drought have become "stereotypes" of Gansu from the outside world.

In September 2020, both sides of the Heihe River in Zhangye, Gansu.

(Data Map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  In fact, Gansu and Qinghai are provinces through which the three major water systems of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the inland rivers flow. They have complex surface water and groundwater cycles, and there are abundant rivers, lakes, lakes, and wetlands within their borders.

This has not only promoted the development of local agriculture and animal husbandry, but also nurtured the oasis along the Silk Road, and has become a "tourist attraction" for tourists from home and abroad in recent years.

  Gansu, located in the geographic center of China's land territory, has a land area far less than Xinjiang, Qinghai and other provinces. However, due to its unique geographical location and long geological and historical evolution process, it can be called a microcosm of China's natural geography.

The picture shows the Danghe Customs Line in Dunhuang, Gansu.

(Data Map) Photo by Du Yulin

  "From the subtropical landscapes of citrus, bamboo forests, tea plantations and other subtropical landscapes in Longnan to the deserts, Gobi and oasis of the Hexi Corridor, from the sacred land of the Jingwei River Valley to the Xuefeng Glacier of the Qilian Mountains, the natural landscape shows obvious horizontal zonality and verticality. Differences all have important resource utilization, scientific research and aesthetic value.” According to Professor Wang Naiang, director of the Glacier and Desert Research Center of Lanzhou University, as the only province in China where the three natural regions meet, the natural landscape of Gansu has been formed. And the manifestation is systematic, complete and typical.

  If you don't reach the northwest, you don't know the vastness of the world.

If you don't reach Gansu, you don't know the variety of landforms.

In addition to the ocean, almost all the major landscape types in the country exist on the land of Gansu, so she won the first place in Asia's best tourist destinations by the travel bible "Lonely Earth" magazine.

  This land of treasures "hidden in the deep pavilion" in Gansu has not only been increasingly discovered by the outside world, but even the rivers in the territory are "uncountable".

  A major feature of Gansu's surface water system is that there are both outflow rivers and inward rivers.

According to statistics, there are 78 rivers with annual runoff greater than 100 million cubic meters in the province.

Among them, there are 15 inland river basins with independent mountain outlets and annual runoffs greater than 100 million cubic meters, 27 in the Yellow River Basin, and 36 in the Yangtze River Basin.

  The Yangtze River Basin is located in southern Gansu, where rainfall is plentiful and water resources are abundant, including the Jialing River system and the Han River system.

The Jialing River system is branch-shaped and has many tributaries. There are 17 rivers with a drainage area of ​​more than 500 square kilometers. For example, the Bailong River, Baishui River and Xihan River in Gansu Province are the larger tributaries.

  The city of Longnan, which the upper reaches of the water system mainly flows through, is the most water-rich area in Gansu and has the reputation of "Longshang Jiangnan".

Longnan, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, is a small area that gathers Guan'egou, Tianchi, Bailong River, the water of the Western Han Dynasty "on the side of the water"..., and a group of cute pet giant pandas.

  Gansu is the third province through which the Yellow River flows. The Gansu section of the Yellow River Basin spans 9 cities (prefectures).

The Yellow River flows in and out in Gansu, traversing the central and southern part of Gansu Province from southwest to northeast.

Tributaries such as Daxia River, Tao River, Huangshui River, Zhuanglang River and Zuli River are injected.

In addition, there are still important tributaries of the Yellow River, Weihe and Jinghe, which originate and flow through the middle and eastern parts of the province.

The Gannan grassland is an important water conservation area in the source area of ​​the Yellow River. Due to the increase in water flow in the Maqu section, the runoff of the Yellow River accounts for 58.7% of the runoff in the source area of ​​the Yellow River and one-sixth of the total runoff in the Yellow River basin.

  Tao River is a primary tributary of the Yellow River system and the third largest river in Gansu Province. There are a lot of water resources that can be transferred outside.

In September this year, the second phase of the Tao water diversion project was completed, and the main body of the cross-basin water diversion project with the largest scale and the largest number of beneficiaries in Gansu was completed. The Tao dream of benefiting nearly a quarter of the population of the province has finally come true.

  The inland river systems of Hexi mainly include the Shiyang River, Heihe River, Shule River, and Sugan Lake.

Among them, the Heihe River is the second largest inland river in China, originating from the "source of five rivers" in the Qilian Mountains. The basin covers Qinghai, Gansu, and Inner Mongolia, and is the "mother river" of the Hexi Corridor.

  In recent years, Chinese officials have strengthened the protection and restoration of the ecological system in the Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve, and the ecological management of Heihe River has become more and more "busy."

Today, the Zhangye Heihe Wetland located in the Hexi Corridor has become an international post on the Central Asia Passage, one of the eight migratory bird migration routes in the world. About 180,000-250,000 waterfowls gather and stop here each year; it has become a "bird in giant panda" black. Nesting breeding ground for storks.

Zhangye's "Pearl on the Plug" with long grass and Yingfei often gives visitors the illusion of being in a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

  Not only that, but also the Dang River that forms the Dunhuang Oasis, the second largest river in the inland river system of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu, the Shule River that flows from east to west, and the unique Sugan Lake system on the plateau... At the same time, Gansu also has Numerous amazing lakes, wetlands, etc., such as Yangtang Tianchi, Lintan Yehai, Luqu Gahai, Yellow River Shouqu Wetlands, etc., guard and nurture all living beings on this land.

  Now, looking back at these long-standing rivers, the distant history seems to be getting closer.

Every rushing river in Gansu, whether it is changed or converged, left behind not only the prosperous cities, oasis, and paddy fields, but also the confluence of various civilizations in the world, and it is also a testimony to the brilliant history of the Chinese nation.

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