China Top Travel

Xining is an industrial city and capital of Qinghai province in northwest China. It is located along the Xining River. It has under its jurisdiction, four districts and one autonomous county. It is the economic and cultural center of the province.

Located in the northeast of Qinghai Province, Xining lies at the junction of the Lanzhou-Qinghai and the Qinghai-Tibet railways.

It covers an area of 7,597 square kilometers.

City code: 0971
Postal code: 810000

Xining has a population of 1.14 million.

It lies at the south part of Shuimo Region in south suburbs of Xining, and north of Huangzhong County. It covers an area of 30 square meters with 11.3km from south to north, 2.3km from east to west. This is a long and narrow river valley belt from southwest to northeast, so called it "Xining big Nanchuan".

The climate in Xining is characterized as having an arid climate with little rain and has plenty of sunshine; it is dry and windy in spring, and has a short summer season and a long and cold winter.

Enterprises involved in heavy industries like steel and heavy machinery are in Xi (west) Chuan Industrial Zone. Firms engaged in chemical and textile industries are in Dong (east) Chuan Industrial Zone.

These most famously include the Chinese Caterpillar Fungus (Dongchong xiacao), Chrysanthemum Carp (Li yu), Flagelliform Nostoc (Facai), and various forms of local Mushroom.

Lying on the plateau, and with a history of more than 2000 years, therefore it is named "Ancient Plateau City."

Located 26km south of the city proper, the sacred Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er si), is the best of the sights in the Xining area. This attraction is generally acknowledged to be one of the six most important monasteries along with the Ganden, Sera and Drepung monasteries in the Lhasa area, the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse and the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe. The ancient monastery, built during the 39th year (1560 AD) of the reign of emperor Jiajing (Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 AD), boasts a Tibetan name, Kumbum, which means a grand place housing 100,000 Buddhas. Located around 110km southeast of Xining in the Xunhua Sala Autonomous Prefecture, the Mengda Nature Reserve (Mengda ziran baohuqu) is a flourishing area of natural beauty, contrasting sharply with the great swathes of sterile land that cover Qinghai Province. The Great Mosque (Dongguan qingzhen dasi), built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) during the 12th year of the reign of the first Ming emperor.

The specialties are strongly Tibetan or Muslim influenced and the concentration on mutton and noodles reflects this. These include Lamb Tenderloin (Feng'er liji), Kebab (Kao yangrou), Yu Rangpi (similar to the Dunhuang Rang pizi), Wang's Thick Sliced Noodle Pieces (Wang mianpian), Cold Noodles (Liang mian), Soup Cooked with Lamb and Oxen Entrails (Zasui tang), Hand Held Mutton (Shouzhua yangrou) and Lamb Liver(Zhu yanggan). For breakfast you should really try the tasty Muslim Yoghurt (Qingzheng suannai), a naturally sour, although often sweetened, cow/water-buffalo/yak yoghurt.