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 Qinghai
Qinghai
(Green Sea) Province is situated in the northeast part of Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau, where the Yangtze River and the Yellow River originate.
The highway to Lhasa is asphalted, the highest highway in the
world. Wild antelope, yak, donkeys, camels, lynx, deer and pheasant
roam freely over the vast grass lands. Its capital city is Xining
(Western Peace) and it has large lamaseries and mosques to offer.
The earliest residents of Qinghai were the Qiang people and the
province is now inhabited by people of various ethnic origins.
Its warm-hearted people, rustic life style and customs, places
of historical interest as well as its plateaus, snow peaks, glaciers,
great lakes, forests and grassland attract tourists from all over
the world.
Qinghai
is a huge, empty and wild place in the middle of China while its
population is just 4.5 million. It is surrounded by Xinjiang,
Gansu, Sichuan and Tibet; it covers a total area of over 720,000
square kilometers. There are lots of minority people living in
Qinghai, including Tibetans, Hui, Salar, Tu, Mongol and Kazakh.
Qinghai's provincial capital is Xining.
The
city of Xining has lush green valleys and plentiful annual rainfall,
this is also the only part of Qinghai where sustainable agriculture
takes place. To the west and south is a three-thousand-metre plateau
and it's bitterly cold for half the year. People there graze cattle
and sheep in those high pastureland. To the northwest is an arid
basin, where mineral deposits and oil were discovered. Now the
area supports extensive mining.
There
are places of natural beauty in Qinghai, including Qinghai Lake,
Bird Island, Kunlun Mountains and the road to Tibet.
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| Recommended
Scenic Spots |
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| Qinghai
Lake |
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 Qinghai
Lake, known as the Western Sea in ancient times, is a somewhat surreal-looking
saline lake to the west of Xining. It's the largest lake in China
and contains huge numbers of fish.
The main attraction
is Bird Island on the western side of the lake, about 300km from
Xining. It's a breeding ground for thousands of wild geese, gulls,
cormorants, sandpipers, extremely rare black-necked cranes and many
other bird species. Perhaps most interesting of them are the bar-headed
geese. These hardy birds migrate high over the Himalaya to spend
winter on the Indian plains, and have been spotted flying at altitudes
of 10,000m. You will see birds in quantity only during the breeding
season - between March and early June.
Despite its
name, Bird Island is not an island, but used to be before the lake
shore receded and made it part of the mainland. There is one small
island, Haixinshan, and for 45 Yuan you can take a boat trip from
Bird Island around the lake that takes in this and other sights.
It gets chilly
at night so bring warm clothing. The lake water is too salty to
drink, so be sure to carry a sufficient supply if you intend to
do any hiking. There are nomads around the lake -most are friendly
and may invite you in for a cup of tea in their tents. There is
a 52 Yuan entry fee to the Bird Island area.
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| Ta'er
Monastery |
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 One
of the six great monasteries of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism,
Ta'er Monastery (or Kumbum in Tibetan) is found in the town of Huangzhong,
a mere 26 km south of Xining. It was built in 1577 on sacred ground-the
birthplace of Tsong Khapa, founder of the Yellow Hat sect.
The monastery
is noted for its extraordinary sculptures of human figures, animals
and landscapes carved out of yak butter. The art of butter sculpture
probably dates back 1300 years in Tibet and was taken up by the
Ta'er Monastery in the last years of the 16th century.
It's a pretty
place and very popular with local tourists. An earthquake in 1990
and subsequent heavy snows threatened to destroy many of the buildings,
and the Chinese government actually forked out 70 million Yuan for
a major restoration project. But the place still maintains its historical
atmosphere.
Go hiking in
the surrounding area or follow the pilgrims clockwise on a scenic
circuit round the monastery. Six temples are the buildings diagonally
opposite the row of stupas. Photography is prohibited inside the
temples.
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| Other
Scenic Spots |
Dongguan Mosque
Taer (Kumbum) Lamasery
Ta'er Si and Beyond
Mengda Nature Reserve
Xining and Around
Golmud and the road to Tibet
Qinghai Hu and Around
Bird Island |
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