Qilihe District 七里河区

Setting and landscape

The urban strip is narrow: loess hills begin a short way south of the Yellow River, and many homes are built on their slopes. Further south, the Shifogou National Forest Park (石佛沟国家森林公园) lies in the Agan (阿干) forest area between 1,950 and 3,124 metres, with more than 90 percent tree cover. It adjoins the Xinglong Mountain (兴隆山) nature reserve to the east and Guanshan Forest Park (关山森林公园) to the west.

What to see

The Gansu Provincial Museum (甘肃省博物馆) on Xijin West Road (西津西路) was built in 1956 to a Soviet design whose plan follows the shape of the character "山" ("mountain"). Its collection of about 350,000 items covers historical and ethnic relics as well as fossils, and it was made a national first-grade museum at the end of 2012.

Jintian Temple (金天观) was founded in 1400 by Prince Zhuang of Su (肃庄王) on the site of a Tang-dynasty monastery and a Song-dynasty temple. It takes its name from standing due west of the old city, the direction linked with metal (金) in the five-elements scheme, and three Tang-era locust trees survive. Since 1956 it has served as the Lanzhou Workers' Cultural Palace.

Xiaoxihu Park (小西湖公园), between Xijin Road and the riverside road, began as the West Garden of the Ming princes of Su, one of the old Eight Views of Lanzhou. It was rebuilt in 1880 and renamed Little West Lake, and the present park, laid out in 1984, imitates the gardens of the lower Yangtze. The district also holds the Lanzhou Waterwheel Garden (兰州水车园) and the Yellow River Mother (黄河母亲) sculpture.

Shifogou hosts a Buddhist assembly (法会) on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month and a Buddha-sunning festival with hua'er (花儿) folk singing on the sixth day of the sixth month; it is listed as a Lanzhou intangible heritage project. Agan town was once known across China as a "coal capital", and the third national survey of cultural relics (2007–2009) recorded the Agan coal mine as an important new find.

Food and local products

Qilihe calls itself the "home of the lily" (百合之乡), and dishes cooked with lily bulbs are part of its local fare. The district government also names yellow chives (韭黄), honey peaches (蜜桃) and tianpeizi (甜胚子) among its specialities.

Getting oriented

Lanzhou West Railway Station (兰州西站), opened on 26 December 2014, is in the district and links high-speed and intercity trains with the metro and long-distance buses.

Highlights

• Gansu Provincial Museum 甘肃省博物馆: Built in 1956 to a Soviet design; about 350,000 items; national first-grade museum since 2012.
• Jintian Temple 金天观: Founded in 1400 on an older temple site, with three surviving Tang-era locust trees; Lanzhou Workers' Cultural Palace since 1956.
• Xiaoxihu Park 小西湖公园: Former Ming princely garden, one of the old Eight Views of Lanzhou, laid out as a park in 1984.
• Shifogou National Forest Park 石佛沟国家森林公园: Forested valleys in the Agan area, 1,950 to 3,124 m, with a hua'er song festival in the sixth lunar month.