Understand
Qinghai, owing to its location in the heart of China, close to Mongolia and near the Silk Road, is ethnically mixed - Han, Hui, Kazakh, Mongolian, Tibetans, Tu and Salar inhabit the province. Most of Qinghai forms the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo. Yushu prefecture, in far southern Qinghai, is a part of the Kham region of Tibet. Outside the two main cities - Golmud and Xining -- population centers are tiny villages and towns, scattered along the desolate Tibetan Plateau.
Qinghai is perhaps China's most scarcely populated province. There are only 5.2 million people in an area bigger than France. Labor camps, prisons and nuclear testing sites are scattered among the ice-capped mountains. The extreme eastern part of the province is less harsh, with two major Tibetan monasteries and the charming capital of Xining. The southern regions of Qinghai sit at an average elevation of over 4000 m 13,120 ft while the northern regions sit between 2500 m and 3500 m 8200 to 11,500 ft. Qinghai has some of the largest pasturelands in China. Many yaks and sheep are herded by Tibetan and Mongolian nomads. The prefectures of Haidong and Huangnan consist mostly of farming communities. The far northwest region of Qinghai is home to the Chaidam Basin which is one of the largest deserts in China.
