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Known as the birthplace of three of Asia's rivers, this province is situated on the north-eastern part of
the Tibet-QingHai Plateau.
The Yellow River originates
in the middle of the province, while the YangTze and Mekong have their headwaters in the southern part.
Situated on highlands averaging 3,000 metres above sea level, QingHai
Province sprawls over an area of more than 720,000 square kilometres. It has a population of 4, 667,000, more than 42%
of whom are people of the Tibetan, Hui, Tu, Salar, Mongol and other ethnic groups. The capital city of the province is
XiNing.
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Climate: QingHai, which is located more than 1, 500 kilometres from the East China coast, has
little rainfall and although plenty of sunshine. The annual precipitation averages 700 millimetres in the river valleys
in the eastern part, while that in the QaiDam Basin in western QingHai rainfall is less than 50 millimetres. In some
places it is as little as than 10 millimetres. The province has a mean annual temperature of 0º to 8ºC in the Southern
Qinghai Plateau and the Qilian Mountain Area and 0º to 6ºC in other areas.
Geography: The province with its high terrain is geographically known as the QingHai
Plateau, which is an significant part of
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Cattle grazing on the grasslands |
the QingHai-Tibet Plateau. The Altun and QiLian mountainous areas in the north average more than 4,000
metres above sea level. The Yellow and HuangShui river valleys in the north-eastern corner, about 2,000 metres in
elevation, are the lowest lying region and the most important farming area of QingHai.
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QingHail Lake showing depleted water levels |
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The QingHai Lake Basin consists of a vast lake deposit plain well suited for farming and animal
husbandry. The Qaidam, a large inland basin walled in by the Altun, QiLian and KunLun mountains in the northwest, slops
from northwest to southeast and is interspersed with numerous salt lakes and swamps.
Qinghai Lake, with an area of 4,580 square kilometres and a maximum depth of 33 metres, is the
largest natural lake in China.
Situated in the eastern
end of the desert environment of the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai Province, the lakes main source of recharge water is
snowmelt from the encircling mountain ranges that rise in excess of 4,265 metres.
Several small deltas with cultivated field patterns surround the lake. Qinghai Lake, one of
many inland saline lakes in west-central and northwest China, exhibits sand deposits on its western shoreline as well as
its eastern shoreline where the deposits extend into the lake. |
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QingHai is the source of three rivers |
Tourism: Qinghai features customised ethnic tours unique to the plateau. It has over ten scenic
areas including the Birds Islet, the Mengda Natural Reserves, Ta'er Monastery, snow-capped A’Nyemaqen Mountain,
Sun-and-Moon Hill, and LongYang Gorge Reservoir, the largest artificial reservoir in China, and the DuLan International
Game Land.
Industry: Qinghai is rich in
petroleum, lead, zinc, copper, chromium, cobalt, nickel, iron, asbestos, mirabilite, gypsum, lake salt, potassium, boron
and coal. The QiLian is called the 'Treasure Mountains' and the Qaidam the 'Treasure Basin'.
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