Gansu is located in the northwest of China, bordering on Xinjiang, the country's most westerly province. While wild and remote, its location at the heart of the Silk Road has left a legacy of rich historical interest.

Gansu stretches from the Yellow River in the north, through mountains and deserts to the edge of the Tibetan Plateau in the south. For centuries the Hexi Corridor that bisects the province provided the only trading route between China and the west and still today the only east-west rail link follows the narrow pass.

Some of the world's finest examples of Buddhist art are to be found in the vast Mogao Cave complex near Dunhuang in the east of the province, and the Great Wall comes to an end at the fortress of Jiayuguan in the south. At Labrang there is an interesting Tibetan monastery and reminders of earlier Muslim settlements are scattered throughout the province.

The population is sparse for such a large province and much of the territory is unsuitable for settlement. The people are ethnically mixed and centered on the capital Lanzhou and the industrial center of Tianshui.