Yumen City Overview

Yumen (玉门市) is a county-level city administered by Jiuquan City (酒泉市) in northwestern Gansu Province. Located in the western section of the Hexi Corridor (河西走廊), it stands between the Qilian Mountains and the arid landscapes leading toward Dunhuang and Xinjiang. Yumen is historically significant as one of the cradles of China’s modern petroleum industry and as the hometown of Wang Jinxi (王进喜), the legendary oil worker known as the “Iron Man.”

Today, Yumen presents an unusual combination of Silk Road heritage, petroleum-industry history, desert and mountain landscapes, and rapidly expanding renewable-energy industries. After decades of dependence on petroleum, the city has been transforming into a diversified industrial centre focused on modern chemicals, wind and solar energy, energy equipment manufacturing and new materials. In 2024, Yumen recorded a GDP of approximately RMB 27.83 billion, with per-capita GDP exceeding RMB 200,000.

An Important Note: Yumen City and Yumen Pass Are Different Places

Foreign travellers frequently confuse Yumen City (玉门市) with the famous Yumen Pass (玉门关) mentioned in the Tang poem, “Why should the Qiang flute complain of the willows? The spring wind never crosses Yumen Pass.”

The historic Yumen Pass is located in present-day Dunhuang City, far west of modern Yumen City. Archaeological and official heritage records place the Han-period Yumen Pass complex within Dunhuang.

The two places share a historical name connected with the Silk Road, but travellers searching for the famous Han frontier gate should travel to Dunhuang, not downtown Yumen. This distinction is particularly important when planning a Hexi Corridor itinerary.

Basic Information

Official provincial statistics recorded a permanent population of 135,400 at the end of 2024, including approximately 91,600 urban residents. This is more accurate for current reference than older descriptions placing Yumen’s population at around 180,000.

Geographical Location

Yumen occupies a strategic position in the western Hexi Corridor. It connects the Jiuquan–Jiayuguan urban area to the east with Guazhou and Dunhuang to the west, while the wider municipal territory approaches the Qilian Mountains and areas bordering Subei Mongolian Autonomous County (肃北蒙古族自治县).

Historically, this corridor formed one of the principal east–west routes between the Central Plains, Xinjiang and Central Asia. Modern highways, railways, energy pipelines and power-transmission systems continue to make Yumen an important transport and industrial corridor.

The city covers approximately 13,500 square kilometres and officially administers nine towns and three townships, together with three major industrial parks.

Geography and Landforms

Yumen has a pronounced north–south geographical contrast and can broadly be divided into the Qilian Mountain region, the central Hexi Corridor plain and the northern low-mountain and desert zone.

The southern mountain region extends toward the Qilian Mountains, where elevations rise sharply and snowmelt provides vital water resources. The central section consists mainly of oasis plains, alluvial fans and Gobi landscapes, where the majority of the population, agriculture and transport infrastructure are concentrated. Farther north, dry mountains, gravel deserts and extensive Gobi terrain dominate the landscape.

This combination of mountain barriers and an open east–west corridor also explains Yumen’s exceptional wind resources. Strong air currents are channelled through the corridor, contributing to Yumen’s reputation as one of the important wind-energy centres of western China.

Climate

Yumen has a temperate continental arid climate, with low rainfall, high evaporation, abundant sunshine and considerable differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures.

Winters are long, cold and dry, while summers are warm and sunny but generally less humid than eastern China. Annual precipitation is very limited, while evaporation is many times higher. Sunshine commonly exceeds 3,000 hours per year, providing excellent natural conditions for both photovoltaic and solar-thermal power generation.

Strong winds are one of the most distinctive features of the local climate. Combined with abundant sunlight and large expanses of sparsely populated land, these conditions have helped make renewable energy a central pillar of Yumen’s economic transformation.

Transportation

Yumen lies on one of northwest China’s principal east–west transportation corridors. The G30 Lianhuo Expressway, National Highway G312, Lanzhou–Xinjiang Railway and Lanzhou–Xinjiang High-Speed Railway corridor cross or serve the municipal area, linking Yumen with Jiuquan, Jiayuguan, Guazhou, Dunhuang and Xinjiang.

Rail freight, highways, oil and gas pipelines and electricity-transmission networks make Yumen important not only for passenger travel but also for the movement of energy, mineral products and industrial goods.

For travellers, Yumen can conveniently be incorporated into a wider:

Jiuquan – Jiayuguan – Yumen – Guazhou – Dunhuang

journey across the western Hexi Corridor.

Population and Ethnic Groups

Yumen’s population reflects both its traditional oasis communities and the demographic legacy of twentieth-century industrial development. At the end of 2024, the city had approximately 135,400 permanent residents, of whom around 67.6% lived in urban areas.

The population includes Han, Hui, Dongxiang, Mongolian, Tibetan and other ethnic groups. Earlier official city profiles recorded more than 30 ethnic groups living within Yumen.

The petroleum era also brought workers, engineers and their families from different parts of China, giving the old industrial city a social history distinct from most traditional oasis towns along the Hexi Corridor.

Petroleum History and the Iron Man Spirit

Yumen occupies a special place in the history of modern Chinese industry.

Commercial petroleum development at Laojunmiao (老君庙) began in 1939. On August 11 that year, the first major Yumen oil well produced an industrial oil flow, marking the beginning of large-scale modern petroleum development in the area.

By 1957, Yumen Oilfield had developed into the first major petroleum industrial base established by the People’s Republic of China. That year, its crude-oil output accounted for the great majority of China’s domestic production.

The city is also closely associated with Wang Jinxi, who spent important years working at Yumen Oilfield before becoming nationally famous during the development of Daqing Oilfield. His determination and work ethic became known as the “Iron Man Spirit (铁人精神)”.

The old petroleum city therefore represents more than abandoned industrial infrastructure. It is one of China’s most significant landscapes of twentieth-century industrial heritage.

The Old City and the New City

Yumen has an unusual dual-city structure.

The historic petroleum city developed around Laojunmiao and the oilfield, but declining petroleum reserves during the late twentieth century led to population loss and economic restructuring. A large-scale relocation of municipal functions toward the present New City (新市区) began in the early 2000s.

The old city subsequently became one of China’s best-known examples of a resource-dependent industrial city facing decline. In recent years, however, modern chemical projects and renewed industrial investment have brought workers back. By early 2025, the old urban area once again had more than 16,000 permanent residents, and traffic lights in its centre were switched on again after more than two decades.

This transformation makes Yumen particularly interesting for travellers studying industrial archaeology, resource-city transition and contemporary Chinese urban development.

Silk Road and Archaeological Culture

Yumen’s cultural history extends thousands of years before the petroleum era. The area formed part of the wider Silk Road corridor and preserves prehistoric settlements, Great Wall remains, Buddhist heritage and ancient transport routes.

Important cultural resources include the Huoshaugou Site (火烧沟遗址), one of the major Bronze Age archaeological sites of the Hexi Corridor, and Changma Grottoes (昌马石窟), which reflect the spread of Buddhist culture through western Gansu.

These remains connect Yumen with the broader cultural landscapes of Jiuquan, Jiayuguan, Guazhou and Dunhuang, making the city an important supporting destination for travellers exploring the archaeology and history of the western Hexi Corridor.

Economy and Industrial Transformation

Yumen remains one of the most industrialized county-level economies in Gansu. In 2024, GDP reached approximately RMB 27.83 billion, while per-capita GDP exceeded RMB 200,000. The city had more than 100 above-designated-size industrial enterprises and continued to rank among the stronger county economies in western China.

Rather than relying exclusively on petroleum, Yumen is now developing two major industrial clusters: modern chemical industries and renewable energy plus equipment manufacturing. Petrochemicals, coal chemicals, fine chemicals, renewable energy, advanced materials and logistics are increasingly interconnected.

The transformation from an economy dominated by a single oil industry toward a more diversified industrial system has become one of the defining themes of modern Yumen.

Renewable Energy Development

Few places illustrate Yumen’s economic transformation as clearly as its wind and solar fields.

The municipality possesses large areas suitable for renewable-energy development and was among the early pioneers of commercial wind power in Gansu. Today, wind farms, photovoltaic bases and solar-thermal projects stretch across extensive sections of the Gobi landscape.

Recent industrial development has expanded from electricity generation into wind-power equipment, photovoltaic materials, energy storage, solar-thermal technology and other supporting industries. Yumen therefore promotes the goal of developing toward a “China New Energy Capital”, using its strong wind and solar resources to replace the old dependence on petroleum with a broader energy economy.

This contrast—oil derricks representing twentieth-century Yumen and wind turbines and solar fields representing twenty-first-century Yumen—is perhaps the clearest way to understand the city today.

Tourism Development

Yumen’s tourism industry focuses on three complementary themes: industrial heritage, Silk Road culture and desert–mountain recreation.

The old oilfield area and sites associated with Wang Jinxi preserve the history of China’s petroleum industry, while archaeological resources such as Huoshaogou and Changma Grottoes reveal much older layers of Hexi Corridor civilization. Natural and leisure tourism includes Chijin Gorge (赤金峡), Gobi landscapes, mountain environments and rural tourism.

Yumen is increasingly developing industrial tourism as part of the wider Greater Dunhuang Cultural Tourism Economic Circle, while new visitor facilities, cultural markets, water recreation and heritage interpretation are gradually broadening the city’s tourism appeal.

For international travellers, Yumen is particularly suitable as a special-interest stop between Jiayuguan and Dunhuang for industrial history, renewable-energy study tours, archaeology and contemporary development research rather than as a conventional mass-tourism destination.