Do trains to Lhasa change in Golmud?

Through trains from Xining and eastern China run to Lhasa via Golmud without a change; south of Golmud the carriages are supplied with extra oxygen for the high section over the Tanggula Pass.

Can Tibetan antelope be seen near Golmud?

Yes, in Hoh Xil, along the highway and railway south of the Kunlun Pass. Their numbers have recovered since poaching was brought under control, and the railway was built with underpasses for their migration.

Industrial centre · Scenic area · Qinghai

Golmud

格尔木 (Gé'ěrmù)

Qaidam city on the road and railway to Lhasa

Golmud is a county-level city in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, on the southern edge of the Qaidam Basin at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains. Founded in the 1950s as the base for the Qinghai–Tibet Highway, it is the starting point of the railway and road across the Tanggula Mountains to Lhasa and a centre of the Qaidam's potash, lithium and oil industries.

ProvinceQinghai

Key facts

Province: Qinghai
Administrative level: County-level city (Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture)
Elevation (city): about 2,800 m
Founded: 1954
Nearby World Heritage: Qinghai Hoh Xil (2017)[2]

Overview

Golmud stands at about 2,800 m on a gravel fan where the Golmud River leaves the Kunlun. It began as a tent camp in 1954, when Mu Shengzhong's road builders set out to push a highway over the plateau to Lhasa, and grew as a military, transport and industrial town.

The city is also responsible for Tanggula town, a large detached area on the high plateau along the railway and highway, and it is the gateway to the Kunlun Pass and the Hoh Xil World Heritage site.

Names and nicknames

格尔木 (Gé'ěrmù)
“rivers (Mongolian)”
From a Mongolian word usually explained as “place of many rivers”, after the streams that flow out of the Kunlun.
盐湖城 (yánhú chéng)
“salt-lake city”
For the Qarhan Salt Lake to the north.

History

The Qinghai–Tibet Highway was opened from Golmud to Lhasa in 1954. The railway from Xining reached Golmud in 1984, and its extension across the Tanggula Pass to Lhasa opened in 2006, the highest railway in the world. In the 1990s Hoh Xil, south-west of the city, became known for the fight against the poaching of Tibetan antelope for shahtoosh wool.

1954
Qinghai–Tibet Highway
Road builders under Mu Shengzhong founded the camp that became Golmud and completed the highway to Lhasa.
1984
Railway from Xining
The first section of the Qinghai–Tibet railway reached Golmud.
1994
Death of Sonam Dargye
The Tibetan official who led anti-poaching patrols in Hoh Xil was killed by poachers; his story inspired the film Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2004).
2006
Railway to Lhasa
The Golmud–Lhasa section opened, crossing the Tanggula Pass above 5,000 m.

Landmarks

Nature
Qarhan Salt Lake
察尔汗盐湖 (Chá'ěrhàn Yánhú)
The largest salt lake in China, crossed by road and railway built on a bed of salt, with brine pools used for potash production.
Nature
Kunlun Pass
昆仑山口 (Kūnlún Shānkǒu)
Pass at about 4,770 m on the highway south of the city, marked by a monument to Sonam Dargye; the railway crosses the range nearby.
Nature
Jade Pearl Peak
玉珠峰 (Yùzhū Fēng)
A glaciated Kunlun peak of about 6,180 m, often climbed as a first high mountain.
Historic site
General's Tower
将军楼 (Jiāngjūn Lóu)
Mu Shengzhong's first permanent building, now a park and museum of the highway's construction.

Neighbourhoods

Kunlun Road
昆仑路 (Kūnlún Lù)
The main axis of the planned town centre.
Tanggula town
唐古拉山镇 (Tánggǔlā Shān Zhèn)
The detached high-plateau area administered by Golmud, along the railway near the Tuotuo River, the upper Yangtze.

Food

Yak hotpot
牦牛肉火锅 (máoniúròu huǒguō)
Yak meat simmered at the table in a clear or spicy broth.
Qaidam goji berries
柴达木枸杞 (Cháidámù gǒuqǐ)
Grown in the oasis farms of the basin and sold dried.

Culture

Golmud is a migrant town: its people came from across China to build the roads and railway, work in the salt and oil industries or serve in the army, and the Mongol and Tibetan herders of the region live mostly outside the city. The Kunlun Mountains, home of the Queen Mother of the West in Chinese myth, give the city its cultural theme, including a Daoist shrine at Nachitai, the Kunlun spring.

Getting around

Golmud station is on the Qinghai–Tibet railway and the Golmud–Dunhuang railway.
Golmud Airport has domestic flights; the Kunlun Pass and Hoh Xil lie along the highway to the south.

Day trips

Hoh Xil
可可西里 (Kěkěxīlǐ)
The World Heritage plateau along the highway to Lhasa, with the Sonam Dargye protection station and Tibetan antelope often seen near the road.
East Taijinar Lake
东台吉乃尔湖 (Dōngtáijínài'ěr Hú)
A turquoise salt lake in the Qaidam north-west of the city.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Golmud Municipal People's Government — Golmud Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Qinghai Hoh Xil — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Golmud — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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