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Wuwei, in central Gansu, formerly called Liangzhou,
was a center for cultural and economic exchanges with the Western
Regions that now lie in west China and some area of central Asia,
a strategic pass on the Silk Road and a center of Buddhism. It is
now an important producer of grain, edible oil, and cash crops for
the Hexi Corridor. Places of historical interest include a New Stone
Age sit at Huangniangniang Terrace, bronze bells at Dayun Temple,
the Haizang Temple, Loshi Pagoda, a Confucian Temple, a bell tower,
and the leitai Taoist Temple. The galloping bronze horse unearthed
from a Han tomb in Leitai is famous throughout the world (as the symbol
of China Tour).
Lying approximately halfway between Lanzhou and Zhangye, WUWEI is
a quiet, relaxing place and definitely worth a brief stopover. As
well as some attractive temples, there's a pleasant new town and some
quite substantial remains of the old settlement. The town's single
most famous object, the Han-dynasty Flying Horse of Wuwei, was discovered
here in 1969 underneath the Leitai Si. The original is now housed
in the Lanzhou Museum but the symbol of the horse, depicted in full
gallop and stepping on the back of a swallow, can be seen everywhere
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