Gansu is a long, thin strip of land that connects a loess plateau and the upper reaches of the Yellow River with the deserts of Xinjiang. Much of the industry in Gansu is mining and processing of minerals and metals. The province has China's richest sources of nickel, platinum, magnesium, and alumina. It is also rich in palladium, copper, cobalt, chromium, and zinc. China has about 80% of the world's reserves of rare earth and produces 55% of the world's production (48,000 tons). Gansu is the center of China's nuclear industry. We spent a week in the capital Lanzhou in 1985. We visited one of our students who worked there.