The Hexi Corridor - EP04 The Roots

Documentary, The Hexi Corridor - EP04 The Roots
Hexi Corridor
The Hexi Corridor, also known as the Gansu Corridor, is an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China. It refers to a narrow stretch of traversable and relatively arable plain west of the Yellow River's Ordos Loop, flanked between the much more elevated and inhospitable terrains of the Mongolian and Tibetan Plateaus. The name Hexi refers to "west of the river".
The corridor is approximately 1,000–1,200 km (620–750 mi) long and 40–100 km (25–62 mi) wide.
It includes population centers such as Dunhuang, Yumen City, Jiayuguan City, Jiuquan, Zhangye, Jinchang, Wuwei, and Lanzhou.

The Hexi Corridor is a key segment of the Silk Road and has been an important trade route in Northwest China, linking China proper to the historic Western Regions for traders and military incursions into Central Asia. It is a string of oases along the northern edges of the Qilian Mountains and Altyn-Tagh, with the high and desolate Tibetan Plateau further to the south.
The corridor stretches from near the Gansu capital (Lanzhou) at Wushaolin hillside, through to the Jade Gate in the northwest of Gansu, and to the border at Xinjiang.

The Hexi Corridor has significant historical and cultural importance. It features many interesting towns and cities, including the cities of Zhangye and Dunhuang, which include a slew of oases such as Crescent Moon Lake outside Dunhuang. Other major attractions on the Hexi Corridor include the Mati Si Caves near Zhangye and the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang.
The corridor also includes the Jiayu Pass, Yang Pass, Yumen Pass, Bingling Temple, and the Silk Route Museum.

The Hexi Corridor has been a site of human settlement for thousands of years. An ancient lake in the Hexi Corridor, which was to become part of the Silk Road, was an important occupation site of the Hei Shan civilization for 5000 years, but its later drainage, 4500 years ago, triggered human migration from this site.
The corridor has also been the subject of studies on climate change and human settlement patterns, with research showing that climate change contributed to the transformation of subsistence strategies and changes in human settlement patterns in the region.