Zhongchuan is a town of

Lanzhou New Area Lanzhou New Area () is a state-level new area ( special economic and political administration zone) established in 2012 and is under the direct control of the municipal government of Lanzhou, Gansu province. It is located in the valley around ...

, China. Before 2019 it was part of

Yongdeng County Yongdeng County () is a county of Gansu Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu. Its postal code is 730300, and its population in 2020 was 520,000 people, of which 454,000 lived ...

. In 2006 it had a population of 31,191, however by 2020, the entirety of Lanzhou New Area had a population of 450,000. The town is located in the middle of the Qinwangchuan plain, the largest plateau basin near Lanzhou, measuring roughly from north to south and from east to west. The area of the plain is and it is elevated between . The plain was formed 70 million years ago with the formation of the Himalaya. Around 200 BC, the plain was still humid, but during the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

the plain became very arid. Thanks to irrigation and new farming methods, it became a fertile agricultural area again. The town is known for its

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

orchards. From 2018, the entirety of the original town and several villages, totaling , were demolished to make way for the expansion of

Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport is an airport serving Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, China. It is located northwest of downtown Lanzhou. It was opened in 1970 and serves as a major air hub for the province of Gansu and weste ...

, and residents were relocated to Lanzhou and Lanzhou New Area.

References

Township-level divisions of Gansu {{Gansu-geo-stub