Gansu is located in the north of China and at the heart of the Silk Road. It’s elongated shape is accounted by the Hexu Corridor, a thousand kilometer mountain pass. The province is widely barren and only small oasis towns provided the Silk Road with it’s much-needed lifeline through the desert. Gansu is home to a multinational population which includes ethnic minority groups of Kazak, Mongolian, Tibetan, Hui, Dongxiang, Tu and Manchu. They influence each other and hold close ties with the Han people, so that they have developed a unique cultural community. Additional to a breathtaking natural scenery, it’s cultural relics like the world-famous Mogao Grottoes, a large and well-preserved Buddhist art palace, have to be seen. The Labrang Monastery is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist resorts in China and every year many pilgrims arrive here to pray.