드라마틱한 중국 Gansu성 풍경

드라마틱한 중국 Gansu성 풍경

Gansu Province, in northwestern China, is about the same size as California, with a population of about 26 million people.

 Most of its inhabitants are Han Chinese, with some ethnic Hui and Tibetans. 

Gansu’s diverse landscapes include parts of the Gobi Desert, the Yellow River, numerous mountain formations, and remnants 

of the Silk Road and the Great Wall of China. 

The mostly arid lands range in elevation from about 3,000 feet above sea level to mountains more than 19,000 feet tall. 

Gathered here are recent images from across China’s Gansu Province.

Landforms at Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Zhangye City, northwest China's Gansu Province, on July 7, 2014. 

Danxia, which means “rosy cloud,” is a special landform formed from reddish sandstone that has been eroded over time

 into a series of mountains surrounded by curvaceous cliffs and many unusual rock formations.

Tourists climb the Singing Sand dunes near the Crescent Moon Spring on July 20, 2010, in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, China.

Flowering rapeseed plants blossom in a field in Minle, Gansu, China, on July 14, 2015.

A Chinese rocket takes off with the Venezuelan earth observation satellite Miranda from the remote Gobi Desert in Jiuquan, 

Gansu Province, on September 29, 2012.

The Maijishan Grottoes in the city of Tianshui, Gansu Province, on August 12, 2015. 

The Maijishan Grottoes are a series of 194 caves cut in the side of the hill of Majishan in Tianshui. 

This example of rock-cut architecture contains over 7,200 Buddhist sculptures and over 1,000 square meters of murals. 

Construction began in the Later Qin era (384-417 CE). 

Closer view of the Maijishan Grottoes in the city of Tianshui on August 12, 2015. 

The tallest statue is 16 meters tall and the smallest is only 10 centimeters tall. 

A train speeds through a gap in a section of the Great Wall of China, past Jiayuguan Pass, in front of the snow-covered

 Qilian Mountains in Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, on April 28, 2007. 

Gansu’s Zhagana Stone Mountains, photographed on September 14, 2014. 

Autumn scenery on Dongshan Mountain in Dingxi City, Gansu Province, on October 7, 2015.

Monks gather to pray at the Labrang Monastery prior to Tibetan New Year in Xiahe County, Gansu Province, on February 21, 2012.

Yardang landforms in Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, on May 24, 2015.

Night view of a Danxia landform under the starry sky in Sunan County, Zhangye City, on November 26, 2013.

Chinese workers harvest dried salt in Yanchi Village, Gaotai County, Gansu Province, on August 24, 2015.

A solar eclipse, seen above visitors at the Jiayuguan Fort on the Great Wall of China in the town of Jiayuguan, Gansu Province,

 on August 1, 2008. 

A farmer walks past a terrace of codonopsis pilosula, a traditional Chinese medicine also known as dang shen, in Min County,

 Gansu Province, on May 31, 2011. 

Rows of white plastic shields have been installed to protect the roots of the dang shen to keep it warm and moist. 

Commonly used as a cheaper substitute for ginseng, the herb is believed to lower blood pressure, boost the immune system, 

and improve appetite. 

Motorboats moored at the Liujiaxia Reservoir, on the Yellow River, near the Bingling Si caves, in November of 2006. 

Yueyaquan, or Crescent Lake, in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, on May 12, 2013. 

Formerly a silk route hub and center for trade between China and the West, Dunhuang relies heavily on tourism and features 

a number of historic sites dating back to the Han Dynasty. 

The city has an arid climate and is surrounded by sand dunes, a result of increasing desertification.

Visitors walk on the Mingsha sand dunes on the outskirts of Dunhuang, Gansu Province, on April 29, 2007. 

According to local sources, the Mingsha sand dunes stretch more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) long and 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) wide, 

reaching heights of 1,715 meters (5,630 feet). 

A worker inspects solar panels at a solar farm in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, on September 16, 2013. 

China is pumping investment into wind power, which is more cost-competitive than solar energy and partly able to compete

 with coal and gas.

The Danxia landform in the Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park in Zhangye, Gansu Province, on October 19, 2015. 

A crumbling section of the Great Wall of China is seen near the rebuilt Jiayuguan fort, at rear, in China's Gansu province 

on October 11, 2005. 

Though parts of the Great Wall have been fully restored, much of it is in disrepair, with many areas crumbling or even buried under sand.

Visitors walk outside the Jiayuguan Pass Town in Jiayuguan, on April 28, 2007

Rock formations in the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Gansu Province, on January 19, 2013

A sandstorm hits the Shandan Horse Ranch in Zhangye, Gansu Province, on March 5, 2013. 

According to eyewitnesses, large amounts of black dust and sand were pushed by strong winds, 

resembling a wall rolling across the horse farm from the west.

A herder drives her sheep through a gate of the Yongtai Ancient City in Jingtai County, Gansu Province, on June 20, 2015.

Terraced fields in Dingxi, Gansu Province, on July 4, 2014. 

Ethnic Tibetan women pray around the Labrang Monastery ahead of the Tibetan New Year in Xiahe County, Gansu Province,

 on February 21, 2012.

Tibetan monks at the Labrang monastery in Xiahe, Gansu Province, on February 22, 2009.

An aerial view shows people traveling along a road inside the Danxia National Geological Park, in Zhangye, Gansu Province, China, 

on July 5, 2015. 

The national geological park, covering an area of 510 square kilometers (197 square miles), is known for its colorful rock formations.