of Lanzhou to the Jade Gate at the border of Gansu and Xinjiang. There are many fertile oases along the path, watered by rivers flowing from the Qilian Mountains, such as the Shiyang, Jinchuan, Ejin (Heihe), and Shule Rivers. A strikingly inhospitable environment surrounds this chain of oases: the snow-capped Qilian Mountains (the so-called "southern mountains" or "Nanshan") to the south; the Beishan ("northern mountains") mountainous area, the Alashan Plateau, and the vast expanse of the Gobi desert to the north. Geologically, the Hexi Corridor belongs to a Cenozoic foreland basin system on the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The ancient trackway formerly passed through Haidong, Xining and the environs of Juyan Lake, serving an effective area of about . It was an area where mountain and desert limited caravan traffic to a narrow trackway, where relatively small fortifications could control passing traffic. There are several major cities along the Hexi Corridor. In western Gansu Province is Dunhuang (Shazhou), then Yumen, then Jiayuguan, then Jiuquan (Suzhou), then Zhangye (Ganzhou) in the center, then Jinchang, then Wuwei (Liangzhou) and finally Lanzhou in the southeast. In the past, Dunhuang was part of the area known as the Western Regions. South of Gansu Province, in the middle just over the provincial boundary, lies the city of Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province. Xining used to be the chief commercial hub of the Hexi Corridor. The Jiayuguan fort guards the western entrance to China. It is located in Jiayuguan pass at the narrowest point of the Hexi Corridor, some southwest of the city of Jiayuguan. The Jiayuguan fort is the first fortification of Great Wall of China in the west. See also Liang Province Juyan Lake Basin Silk Road transmission of Buddhism References Citations Sources Yap, Joseph P. (2009), Wars With The Xiongnu: A Translation From Zizhi tongjian. AuthorHouse, . Yap, Joseph P. (2019), The Western Regions Xiongnu and Han: From the Shiji, Hanshu and Hou Hanshu. History of Gansu Sites along the Silk Road Geography of Gansu Geopolitical corridors Historical regions