today lanzhou is the second-largest city in china's northwest and the capital of gansu province.owhis this city here? its growth is largelthe result of 20th-centurycentral. buwhat ipired e communists its to develop lanzhou? result imagine the chalngefor mal trying to link core areas in t east with the western frontier provinces. vast areas of deserts, high plateaus and mountains block many routes to the west. rivers like the huang he were one means of transport, but they were not navigable in many places. they were also not easily crossed. ( speaking japanese ) translator: this is the huang he. lanzhou was built on this site because of its geographical features. the river above lanzhou is swift as it cascades down from the mountains. when it reaches the lanzhou basin, it spreads out and sandbars like these form in the middle. you have to ford the huang he to get to western china, so people have been fording the river here for centuries. that's why lanzhou was built here and has prospered. the famous silk road passed through here on its way through northwest china. narrator: it wa