Qinghai Overview

Qinghai Province is located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It has rich tourist resources, including Qinghai Lake, the largest inland salt lake in China, the well known Bird Island in the northwest of Qinghai Lake, the Nature Reserve in Xunhua, Kumbum Monastery, one of the six largest monasteries of the Ge-lug-pa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Liuwan Ancient Tombs, the largest and best preserved tombs in ancient China, Qutan Temple built some 500 years ago, Qaidam Basin, one of the four largest basins in China, and other places of interest, such as Dulan International Hunting Ground, Kanbula National Park, and Wufeng and Laoye mountains. Qinghai Province is one of the five largest pasturelands in China. The galloping horses, numerous yaks, snow-white sheep, and herdsmen´s tents form a beautiful, tranquil landscape on the boundless pastureland. Qinghai is very proud that the world famous Changjiang (Yangtze) and Huanghe (Yellow) rivers descend from its territory. The spectacular view at the source of the Changjiang River is the serac forest stretching five kilometers. The magnificent scene at the source of the Huanghe River is lakes and streams crisscrossing the green grasslands. In ECO-tour China´99, Qinghai will offer more chances to display its beautiful scenery.
Qinghai Province is attractive not only for its beautiful scenery but also for its colorful local customs. The Tibetans, the Huis, the Mongolians, the Manchus, the Tus, and the Salars, who are diligent, bold and unconstrained, and talented singers and dancers mainly inhabit it.
In recent years, Qinghai Tourism Administration has opened more routes, including Trekking on the Roof of the World from Xining to Lhasa, the South Silk Road from Xining to Dunhuang, and the Ancient Road from Xining to the Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, in addition to other special-interest tourist routes, such as the Natural Landscape, the National Park, the Bird Island, and Mountaineering.