Lanchow

English

Etymology

Postal romanization of Mandarin 蘭州／兰州 (Lánzhōu)

Pronunciation

• enPR: länʹjōʹ

Proper noun

Lanchow

1. Dated form of Lanzhou.
   • 1928, Owen Lattimore, “The Danger Line in the Far East”, in North American Review‎^[1], volume 226, New York, page 492:

     THERE is only one way in which open competition could be established once more in the interior markets which are accessible to Russia. That would be by constructing a railway into Kansu Province, either by completing the present branch line from the Pekin-Hankow line through Shensi, or by continuing the Pekin-Suiyuan line, which now stops at the Yellow River, up past Ninghsia to Lanchow.

   • 1964, 任育地 [Jen Yu-ti], 中国地理概述 [A Concise Geography of China]‎^[2], Peking: Foreign Languages Press, page 198:

     Lanchow, the provincial capital, has been for centuries known as an important crossing place on the Yellow River which flows through the city. Both railway and road bridges have now been built across the river. These bridges add considerably to the beauty of the landscape around Lanchow.
     With convenient access to communications and sources of coal, water power and animal products, Lanchow has excellent prospects for the development of heavy and light industries.

   • 1966 [1957], Михаил Иосифович Сладковский, “Border Trade and Commercial Relations Between Russia and China from the Middle fo the 18th to the Middle of the 19th Centuries”, in M. Roublev, transl., edited by G. Grause, History of Economic Relations Between Russia and China [Ocherki Ekonomicheskikh Othosnenii SSSR c Kitaem]‎^[3], Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, →OCLC, page 65:

     Trade caravans traveled from Kuldja to distant Peking, passing through Urumchi [Tihwa] and Lanchow [Kaolan].

   • 1972, Theodore Shabad, China's Changing Map‎^[4], New York: Frederick A. Praeger, page 70:

     An aluminum reduction plant was inaugurated in November, 1959, at Lanchow in Kansu Province, but its future development is unclear in view of failure to complete the planned low-cost sources of hydroelectric power on the Yellow River.

   • 1973 September 2, L. Chen, “Another Lin Piao incident?”, in Free China Weekly‎^[5], volume XIV, number 34, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:

     Lanchow near the source of the Yellow River and just below the Great Walls was described as a congested center of railroad transportation.

   • 2014, Dana Stabenow, Everything Under the Heavens‎^[6], Portland, Oregon: Gere Donovan Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 113:

     By the time they reached Lanchow, the Golden City, the caravan had settled into the formation it would take for the rest of the journey.

Further reading

• “Lanchow, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.