Province · Northwest China
Qinghai
青海
Source of the great rivers on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau
Qinghai is a high-altitude province on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, named after Qinghai Lake, the largest lake in China. Its Sanjiangyuan region holds the sources of the Yangtze, the Yellow River and the Mekong; most of its land lies above 3,000 metres, and its population of Han, Tibetan, Hui, Tu, Salar and Mongol people is concentrated in the eastern valleys around the capital Xining.
Key facts
- Capital
- Xining
- Abbreviation
- 青 (Qīng)
- Area
- about 722,300 km²[1]
- Resident population
- 5.92 million(as of end of 2025)[2]
- Gross regional product
- CNY 412.2 billion(as of 2025)[2]
- Census population
- 5.92 million(as of 2020 census)[3]
- Divisions
- 2 prefecture-level cities, 6 autonomous prefectures[1]
- UNESCO World Heritage sites
- 1 (Hoh Xil, 2017)[4]
Profile
- Chinese name
- 青海
- Abbreviation (简称)
- 青
- Type
- Province
- Region
- Northwest China
- Capital
- Xining
- Area
- about 722,300 km²
- Divisions
- 2 prefecture-level cities (Xining, Haidong) and 6 autonomous prefectures (Haibei, Huangnan, Hainan, Golog and Yushu Tibetan; Haixi Mongol and Tibetan)
- Ethnic groups
- Han, Tibetan, Hui, Tu, Salar, Mongol
- Languages
- Qinghai Mandarin, Amdo and Khams Tibetan, Salar, Monguor (Tu), Oirat Mongolian
Languages
Qinghai Mandarin
青海话
The Central Plains Mandarin of Xining and the Hehuang valleys, with Tibetan and Mongolic influence in its grammar.
Amdo and Khams Tibetan
藏语
Amdo Tibetan across most of the plateau; Khams Tibetan in Yushu.
Salar
撒拉语
A Turkic language of the Muslim Salar people of Xunhua on the Yellow River.
Monguor (Tu)
土族语
A Mongolic language spoken by the Tu people, mainly in Huzhu and Minhe.
Oirat Mongolian
蒙古语
Spoken by Mongol herders in Haixi and Henan county.
Name and abbreviation
The province takes its name from Qinghai Lake, “the blue sea”, called Köke Nuur (Kokonor) in Mongolian and Tso Ngönpo in Tibetan, both meaning “blue lake”. The Chinese name for the lake is recorded from the Northern Wei period. Qinghai became a province of the Republic of China in 1929; its abbreviation 青 is the first character of the name. Much of the province belongs to the Tibetan cultural region of Amdo, and the Yushu and Golog areas in the south to Kham and Amdo respectively.
Historic names
河湟
The valleys of the Yellow River and its tributary the Huangshui in the east of the province, the farming core around Xining.
西海郡
Commandery set up on the shores of the lake in 4 CE under Wang Mang; it was soon abandoned.
吐谷浑
Kingdom of Xianbei origin that ruled the Qinghai grasslands from the fourth century until the Tibetan conquest of 663.
Amdo
安多
The north-eastern Tibetan cultural region, covering most of Qinghai and parts of Gansu and Sichuan.
Land and climate
Qinghai lies almost entirely on the Tibetan Plateau. The east, around Xining, is a region of loess-covered valleys at about 2,000–2,500 m where most people live and farm. West of it lie Qinghai Lake and the Qilian Mountains, then the Qaidam Basin, a desert of salt lakes and oil fields enclosed by the Kunlun and Altun ranges. The south is the high plateau of Sanjiangyuan, Hoh Xil and the Tanggula Mountains, grassland and wetland at 4,000 m and more, where the great rivers of China and South-East Asia begin.
Landforms
Qinghai Lake
青海湖
A saline lake at about 3,200 m, the largest lake in China, with bird islands and rapeseed fields on its shores.
Qaidam Basin
柴达木盆地
An enclosed high desert basin with salt lakes rich in potash and lithium.
Kunlun Mountains
昆仑山
The range crossing the province from west to east, prominent in Chinese mythology as the home of the Queen Mother of the West.
Hoh Xil
可可西里
Uninhabited high plateau in the south-west, the calving ground of the Tibetan antelope.
Amnye Machen
阿尼玛卿山
A sacred mountain of Amdo in Golog, over 6,000 m, circled by Tibetan pilgrims.
Rivers and lakes
Yellow River
黄河
Rises in the Bayan Har region, loops around Amnye Machen and leaves the province through a chain of hydropower dams.
Tongtian River
通天河
The upper Yangtze, flowing south-east past Yushu before becoming the Jinsha.
Lancang (Mekong)
澜沧江
Rises in Zadoi county in Yushu.
Huangshui
湟水
Tributary of the Yellow River that flows through Xining and Haidong; its valley holds most of the population.
Climate
The climate is high-altitude continental: long, cold winters, short cool summers, strong sunshine and thin air. Xining is mild in summer and a popular escape from the heat of eastern China. The Qaidam is extremely dry, and the southern plateau is cold all year with snow possible in any month. Summer, from June to September, is the season for travel; altitude sickness is a real risk above 3,000 m.
History
The eastern valleys were farmed by Neolithic peoples of the Majiayao culture, while the plateau belonged to herding peoples, known to Chinese sources as the Qiang. The Tuyuhun kingdom ruled the grasslands until the Tibetan Empire conquered it in 663, and Tang and Tibetan armies fought for the region for two centuries. Chinese dynasties held Xining from the Song onwards, while the plateau remained under Tibetan and Mongol leaders. The Qing took direct control after 1724. From the late nineteenth century until 1949 Hui military leaders of the Ma family governed the region; Qinghai became a province in 1929. Since the 1950s it has developed salt-lake chemicals, oil, hydropower and, more recently, solar power, while large areas of the plateau have been placed under protection.
c. 2600–2000 BCE
Liuwan cemetery and Majiayao pottery
Thousands of painted pots from Ledu in Haidong show a flourishing Neolithic culture in the Huangshui valley.
4 CE
Xihai commandery
Wang Mang's regime set up a commandery by the lake, the first Chinese administration on the plateau.
663
Tibetan conquest of the Tuyuhun
The Tibetan Empire absorbed the Tuyuhun kingdom and pressed on the Tang frontier.
1104
Xining prefecture
The Northern Song took the Huangshui valley and gave the city the name Xining, “peace in the west”.
1357
Birth of Tsongkhapa
The founder of the Gelug school was born in the valley where Kumbum Monastery was later built.
1578
Altan Khan meets Sonam Gyatso
At the meeting near Qinghai Lake the Mongol ruler gave the Gelug lama the title Dalai Lama.
1724
Qing direct rule
After suppressing the rising of Lobsang Danzin, the Qing placed the Kokonor region under an imperial commissioner at Xining.
1929
Qinghai province established
The Republic of China created the province; Ma Bufang governed it for most of the 1930s and 1940s.
1984
Xining–Golmud railway
The first section of the Qinghai–Tibet railway reached the Qaidam.
2006
Qinghai–Tibet railway to Lhasa
The line from Golmud across the Tanggula Pass completed the railway link to Tibet.
14 April 2010
Yushu earthquake
A strong earthquake destroyed much of Gyêgu, the seat of Yushu prefecture, killing about 2,700 people.
2017
Hoh Xil World Heritage
Qinghai Hoh Xil was inscribed as a natural World Heritage site.
2021
Sanjiangyuan National Park
Established as one of China's first five national parks, covering the source areas of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers.
World heritage
World Heritage sites
Natural · inscribed 2017
青海可可西里
A remote part of the Tibetan Plateau, the largest and highest plateau in the world, with alpine grassland, lakes and the migration route and calving grounds of the Tibetan antelope.
Intangible cultural heritage (UNESCO lists)
Inscribed 2009
Regong arts
热贡艺术
Thangka painting, murals, embroidery and sculpture by Tibetan and Tu artists of the monasteries and villages of Tongren (Rebgong) in Huangnan.
Inscribed 2009
Hua'er
花儿
Folk songs of the Hehuang region sung in Chinese by Hui, Han, Tu, Salar and other communities; shared with Gansu and Ningxia.
Inscribed 2009
Gesar epic tradition
格萨尔史诗
The epic of King Gesar sung by bards on the plateau, with Golog and Yushu among its strongest centres; shared with other Tibetan and Mongol regions.
Culture
Qinghai is a meeting place of Tibetan Buddhist, Islamic and Chinese cultures. Tibetan monasteries such as Kumbum, Rongwo and Gyanag Mani stand a day's travel from the Hui and Salar mosques of Xining and Xunhua, and the Tu of Huzhu combine Tibetan Buddhism with their own Mongolic language and customs. Horse festivals on the grasslands, hua'er song fairs in the valleys and the butter sculptures of Kumbum mark the year.
青海长云暗雪山，孤城遥望玉门关。黄沙百战穿金甲，不破楼兰终不还。Qīnghǎi cháng yún àn xuě shān, gū chéng yáo wàng Yùmén Guān. Huáng shā bǎi zhàn chuān jīn jiǎ, bù pò Lóulán zhōng bù huán.
“Long clouds over Qinghai darken the snow mountains; from a lone fort we gaze towards the Jade Gate. A hundred battles in the yellow sand have worn through our golden armour — until Loulan falls we will not go home.”
— Wang Changling, “Joining the Army”, fourth of seven (从军行·其四), Tang dynasty
Opera, music and dance
Hua'er song fairs
花儿会
Summer gatherings where singers trade improvised love songs, such as the fair at Laoye Mountain in Datong.
Rebgong Lurol
热贡六月会
Summer festival of the Tibetan and Tu villages of Tongren, with trance mediums, offerings and dances for the mountain deities.
Gesar recitation
格萨尔说唱
Performance of the Gesar epic by bards, some of whom say the story came to them in dreams.
Crafts
Thangka
唐卡
Painted Buddhist scroll images; the Regong school of Tongren is among the most prolific.
Kumbum butter sculptures
塔尔寺酥油花
Coloured yak-butter sculptures made by monks for the Lantern Festival of the first month.
Tu coiled embroidery
土族盘绣
Embroidery of the Tu women of Huzhu, known for its rainbow-striped sleeves.
Tibetan carpets
藏毯
Hand-knotted wool carpets woven in Xining and the Tibetan counties.
Festivals and customs
Horse festivals
赛马会
Summer horse-racing and trading festivals of the Tibetan herders, the largest in Yushu.
Naadam
那达慕
Mongol summer festival of wrestling, archery and horse racing in Haixi.
Salar weddings
撒拉族婚礼
Weddings in Xunhua with the ritual “camel play” re-enacting the Salar ancestors' migration from Central Asia.
Cuisine
Qinghai cooking is built on lamb, yak, wheat and highland barley. Hui and Salar restaurants dominate Xining, with hand-held lamb, noodle dishes and flatbreads; the Tibetan areas eat tsampa, yak meat, yoghurt and butter tea. Summer yoghurt sold in bowls is a Xining institution.
Signature dishes
Hand-held lamb
手抓羊肉
Plainly boiled plateau lamb eaten with the hands, dipped in salt and chilli.
Mianpian
面片
Dough pinched into small squares straight into a mutton and vegetable soup.
Tsampa
糌粑
Roasted highland barley flour kneaded with butter tea, the Tibetan staple.
Yak or cow's-milk yoghurt
酸奶
Thick set yoghurt sprinkled with sugar, sold in bowls throughout Xining.
Tianpei
甜醅
Lightly fermented highland barley, sweet and a little alcoholic.
Specialities
Caterpillar fungus
冬虫夏草
A fungus that grows from the larvae of ghost moths in alpine meadows; its harvest is a major source of income for herders in Yushu and Golog.
Highland barley liquor
青稞酒
Baijiu distilled from highland barley, especially in Huzhu.
Qaidam goji berries
柴达木枸杞
Red and black goji grown in the oases of the Qaidam Basin.
Dried yak meat
牦牛肉干
Wind-dried or spiced yak jerky from the pastoral counties.
Notable people
Tsongkhapa (1357–1419)
宗喀巴
Reformer of Tibetan Buddhism and founder of the Gelug school, born at the site of Kumbum near Xining.
Changkya Rolpai Dorje (1717–1786)
章嘉·若必多吉
Monk from Huzhu who became imperial preceptor to the Qianlong Emperor and oversaw the translation of the Buddhist canon into Manchu.
Gendün Chöphel (1903–1951)
更敦群培
Scholar, writer and artist from Rebgong, a pioneering modern Tibetan intellectual.
Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (1938–1989)
确吉坚赞
Born in Xunhua; one of the most senior figures of Tibetan Buddhism in the People's Republic.
Economy
Qinghai's economy rests on natural resources and energy. The salt lakes of the Qaidam supply most of China's potash fertiliser and a growing share of its lithium, and the basin also produces oil and gas. The Yellow River dams and large solar and wind parks around Gonghe and Golmud make the province a major exporter of electricity, much of it from renewable sources. Herding of yaks and Tibetan sheep remains the livelihood of the plateau, and tourism centres on Qinghai Lake and the monasteries.
Main industries
- Salt-lake chemicals: potash, lithium, magnesium
- Oil and natural gas in the Qaidam
- Hydropower on the upper Yellow River
- Solar and wind power
- Yak and Tibetan-sheep husbandry
- Tourism
Zones, ports and hubs
Qaidam Circular Economy Pilot Zone
柴达木循环经济试验区
National pilot zone for integrated use of the basin's salt, oil and mineral resources.
Xining Economic and Technological Development Zone
西宁经济技术开发区
National-level zone with metallurgy, lithium-battery and photovoltaic industries.
Sanjiangyuan National Park
三江源国家公园
Not an economic zone but the province's largest land use: a national park in which herding communities act as rangers and wardens.
Cities
- Xining西宁Capital · Historic city · Cultural centrePlateau capital between Kumbum Monastery and the Dongguan Mosque
- Golmud格尔木Industrial centre · Scenic areaQaidam city on the road and railway to Lhasa
- Tongren (Rebgong)同仁Cultural centre · Historic cityRebgong, the valley of thangka painters
- Yushu (Gyêgu)玉树Cultural centre · Scenic areaKhampa town at the headwaters of the Yangtze and Mekong
Getting there
- Xining Caojiabao International Airport is the main airport; Golmud, Yushu, Golog and Delingha have regional airports.
- The Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed line passes through Xining; the Qinghai–Tibet railway runs from Xining via Golmud to Lhasa.
- Roads across the plateau are long and high; weather and altitude must be taken into account on any overland route.
Entry rules for foreign visitors are on the visa and entry pages.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Qinghai Provincial People's Government — Qinghai Provincial People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- 青海省2025年国民经济和社会发展统计公报 (Statistical Communiqué of Qinghai on the 2025 National Economic and Social Development) — Qinghai Provincial Bureau of Statistics (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Qinghai Hoh Xil — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Intangible Cultural Heritage: China — UNESCO (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Qinghai — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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