Qilihe District

Qilihe — Seven-Mile River — takes its name from a tributary that once flowed independently to the Yellow River seven li (about 3.5 kilometres) from the old city gates. The district developed as Lanzhou's principal industrial zone during the post-1949 period, when the central government designated Lanzhou as a key site for the Northwest China petroleum refinery industry.

The Lanzhou Petrochemical Company, a major Sinopec subsidiary operating refining, ethylene, and chemical units in the western valley, is one of the foundation enterprises of post-1949 Lanzhou. The refinery complex — spread across the valley floor and lower slopes west of the city — is a substantial industrial landscape visible from the valley approaches and from the ridge paths above.

The West Railway Station (Lanzhou West Station) in Qilihe is Lanzhou's second rail hub, with connections to Zhangye, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang (via bus from Liuyuan), and Xinjiang on the Lanxin railway — the principal Silk Road rail axis west from the city. Travellers continuing west from Lanzhou by rail typically depart from this station.

Qilihe's residential fabric is a mix of 1950s and 1960s danwei (work-unit) housing estates — the blocks built to house the refinery and chemical-plant workers — and more recent commercial development. The district retains a working-class character that is distinct from the commercial and governmental character of the Chengguan centre.