Qinghai^[a] is an inlandprovince inNorthwestern China. It is the largestprovince of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city isXining.

Qinghai 青海
Province
Province of Qinghai
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	青海省 (Qīnghǎi Shěng)
• Abbreviation	QH /青 (pinyin:Qīng)
Clockwise from the top: Hoh Xil DowntownXining Lijiaxia Reservoir Kumbum Monastery Chaka Salt Lake
Map showing the location of Qinghai Province
Coordinates:35°N96°E / 35°N 96°E /35; 96
Country	China
Named after	Derived from the name ofQinghai Lake ("blue/green lake").
Capital (and largest city)	Xining
Divisions  -Prefecture-level  -County-level  -Township- level	8 prefectures 44 counties 404 towns and subdistricts
Government
• Body	Qinghai Provincial People's Congress
• Party Secretary	Wu Xiaojun
• Congress Chairman	Chen Gang (titular)
• Governor	Luo Dongchuan (acting)
• ProvincialCPPCC Chairman	Gönbo Zhaxi
• National People's Congress Representation	24 deputies
Area [1]
• Total	720,000 km2 (280,000 sq mi)
• Rank	4th
Highest elevation (Bukadaban Feng)	6,860 m (22,510 ft)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	5,923,957
• Rank	31st
• Density	8.2/km2 (21/sq mi)
• Rank	30th
Demographics
• Ethnic composition	Han – 54% Tibetan – 21% Hui – 16% Tu – 4% Mongol – 1.8% Salar – 1.8%
• Languages and dialects	Zhongyuan Mandarin Chinese,Amdo Tibetan,Monguor,Oirat Mongolian,Salar andWestern Yugur
GDP(2023)[3]
• Total	CN¥ 379,906 million (30th) US$ 53,913 million
• Per capita	CN¥ 63,903 (24th) US$ 9,069
ISO 3166 code	CN-QH
HDI (2022)	0.719[4] (30th) –high
Website	www.qh.gov.cn(in Chinese)

Qinghai
"Qinghai" in Chinese characters
Chinese name
Chinese	青海
Postal	Tsinghai
Literal meaning	"Qinghai (Lake)"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qīnghǎi Bopomofo ㄑㄧㄥ   ㄏㄞˇ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Chinghae Wade–Giles Chʻing1-hai3 Tongyong Pinyin Cinghǎi IPA [tɕʰíŋ.xàɪ]ⓘ Wu Romanization Tshin平-he上 Hakka Romanization Tshiâng-hói Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Chīnghói Jyutping cing1 hoi2 IPA [tsʰɪŋ˥ hɔj˧˥] Southern Min HokkienPOJ Chheng-hái Tâi-lô Tsheng-hái
Tibetan name
Tibetan	མཚོ་སྔོན།
Transcriptions Wylie mtsho sngon
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic	Хөхнуур
Mongolian script	ᠬᠥᠬᠡ ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ
Transcriptions SASM/GNC Köke naɣur
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡥᡠᡥᡠ ᠨᠣᠣᡵ
Romanization	Huhu Noor
Oirat name
Oirat	Kokonur

This article containsMongolian script. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of text inMongolian script.

Qinghai bordersGansu on the northeast,Xinjiang on the northwest,Sichuan on the southeast and theTibet Autonomous Region on the southwest. Qinghai province was established in 1928 during the period of theRepublic of China, and until 1949 was ruled byChinese Muslim warlords known as theMa clique. TheChinese name "Qinghai" is afterQinghai Lake, the largest lake in China. The lake is known as Tso ngon in Tibetan, and as Kokonor Lake in English, derived from the MongolOirat name for Qinghai Lake. Both Tso ngon and Kokonor are names found in historic documents to describe the region.^[7]

Located mostly on theTibetan Plateau, the province is inhabited by a number of peoples including theHan (concentrated in the provincial capital of Xining, nearbyHaidong, andHaixi),Tibetans,Hui,Mongols,Monguors, andSalars. According to the 2021 census reports, Tibetans constitute a fifth of the population of Qinghai and the Hui compose roughly a sixth of the population. There are over 37 recognized ethnic groups among Qinghai's population of 5.6 million, withnational minorities making up a total of 49.5% of the population.

The area of Qinghai came under the control of theManchu-ledQing Dynasty around 1724, after their defeat ofKhoshut Mongols who previously controlled most of the area. After theXinhai Revolution and the ensuing fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qinghai came under Chinese Muslim warlordMa Qi's control until theNorthern Expedition by theRepublic of China consolidated central control in 1928. In the same year, the province of Qinghai was established by theNationalist Government, with Xining as its capital.^[8][9][10]

During theBronze Age, Qinghai was home to a diverse group of nomadic tribes closely related to other Central Asians who traditionally made a living inagriculture andhusbandry, theKayue culture. The eastern part of the area of Qinghai was under the control of theHan dynasty about 2,000 years ago. It was a battleground during theTang and subsequentCentral Plain dynasties when they fought against successiveTibetan tribes.^[11]

In the middle of 3rd century CE, nomadic people related to theMongolicXianbei migrated to pasture lands around theQinghai Lake (Koko Nur) and established theTuyuhun Kingdom.

In the 7th century, the Tuyuhun Kingdom was attacked by both theTibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty as both sought control over theSilk Road trade routes. Tibetan KingSongtsen Gampo was victorious, and settled the area around Tso ngon (Lake Go, or Kokonor Lake).^[12] Military conflicts had severely weakened the Tuyuhun kingdom and it was incorporated into the Tibetan Empire. The Tibetan Empire continued expanding beyond Tso ngon duringTrisong Detsen's andRalpacan's reigns, and the empire controlled vast areas north and east of Tso ngon until 848,^[13] which includedXi'an.

During thefragmentation of the Tibetan Empire, a series of local polities emerged under the political jostling ofWestern Xia to the north andSong dynasty to the east -- from the military-rule ofGuiyi Circuit, to a Tibetan tribal confederacy, and eventuallythe Tibetan theocratic kingdom of Tsongkha. TheSong dynasty eventually defeated the Kokonor kingdom Tsongkha in the 1070s.^[14] During the Mongol-ledYuan dynasty'sadministrative rule of Tibet, the region comprised the headwaters of the Ma chu (Machu River,Yellow River) and the Yalong (Yangtze) rivers and was known asAmdo, but apportioned to different administrative divisions than Tibet proper.^[15]

Most of Qinghai was, for a short time in the aftermath of the Yuan dynasty's overthrow, under the control of earlyMing dynasty, but later gradually lost to theKhoshut Khanate founded by theOirats. TheXunhua Salar Autonomous County is where mostSalar people live in Qinghai. The Salars migrated to Qinghai fromSamarkand in 1370.^[16] The chief of the four upper clans around this time was Han Pao-yuan and Ming granted him office of centurion, it was at this time the people of his four clans took Han as their surname.^[17] The other chief Han Shan-pa of the four lower Salar clans got the same office from Ming, and his clans were the ones who took Ma as their surname.^[18]

From 1640 to 1724, a big part of the area that is now Qinghai was underKhoshut Mongol control, but in 1724 it was conquered by the armies of theQing dynasty.^[19]Xining, the capital of modern Qinghai province, began to function as the administrative center, although the city itself was then part ofGansu province within the "Tibetan frontier district".^[20][21] In 1724, 13-Article for the Effective Governing of Qinghai (Chinese:青海善后事宜十三条) was proposed byNian Gengyao and adopted by the Central Government to gain full control of Qinghai.

Under the Qing dynasty, the governor was a viceroy of the Emperor, but local ethnic groups enjoyed significant autonomy. Many chiefs retained their traditional authority, participating in local administrations.^[22] TheDungan Revolt (1862–1877) devastated theHui Muslim population ofShaanxi, shifting the Hui center of population toGansu and Qinghai.^[23]: 405 AnotherDungan Revolt broke out in Qinghai in 1895 when various Muslim ethnic groups in Qinghai and Gansu rebelled against the Qing. Following theoverthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the region came under Chinese Muslim warlordMa Qi control until theNorthern Expedition by theRepublic of China consolidated central control in 1928.

In July–August 1912, GeneralMa Fuxiang was "Acting Chief Executive Officer of Kokonur" (de facto Governor of the region that later became Qinghai).^[24] In 1928, Qinghai province was created. The Muslim warlord and GeneralMa Qi became military governor of Qinghai, followed by his brotherMa Lin and then Ma Qi's sonMa Bufang. In 1932Tibet invaded Qinghai, attempting to capture southern parts of Qinghai province, following contention inYushu, Qinghai, over a monastery in 1932. The army of Ma Bufang defeated the Tibetan armies. Governor of QinghaiMa Bufang was described as asocialist by American journalistJohn Roderick and friendly compared to the other Ma Clique warlords.^[25] Ma Bufang was reported to be good humoured and jovial in contrast to the brutal reign ofMa Hongkui.^[26] Most of eastern China was ravaged by theSecond Sino-Japanese War and theChinese Civil War, by contrast, Qinghai was relatively untouched.

Ma Bufang increased the prominence of the Hui andSalar people in Qinghai's politics by heavily recruiting to his army from the counties in which those ethnic groups predominated.^[27] General Ma started a state run and controlled industrialization project, directly creating educational, medical, agricultural, and sanitation projects, run or assisted by the state. The state provided money for food and uniforms in all schools, state run or private. Roads and a theater were constructed. The state controlled all the press, no freedom was allowed for independent journalists.^[28]

As the1949 Chinese revolution approached Qinghai, Ma Bufang abandoned his post and flew toHong Kong, traveling abroad but never returning to China. On January 1, 1950, the Qinghai Province People's Government was declared, owing its allegiance to the newPeople's Republic of China. Aside from some minor adjustments to suit the geography, the PRC maintained the province's territorial integrity.^[29] Resistance to Communist rule continued in the form of the Huis'Kuomintang Islamic insurgency (1950–58), spreading past traditionally Hui areas to the ethnic-Tibetan south.^[23]: 408 Although the Hui composed 15.6% of Qinghai's population in 1949, making the province the second-largest concentration of Hui afterNingxia, the state denied the Hui ethnic autonomous townships and counties that their numbers warranted under Chinese law until the 1980s.^[23]: 411

•  
  TheKhoshut Khanate (1642–1717) based in theTibetan Plateau
•  
  Chiang Kai-shek, leader ofNationalist China (right), meets with the Muslim generalsMa Bufang (second from left), andMa Buqing (first from left) inXining, Qinghai, in August 1942

Qinghai is located on the northeastern part of theTibetan Plateau. By area, it is the largest province in the People's Republic of China (excluding theautonomous regions).

TheYellow River originates in the southern part of the province, while theYangtze andMekong have their sources in the southwestern part. Qinghai is separated by theRiyue Mountain into pastoral and agricultural zones in the west and east.^[30]

TheSanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve is located in Qinghai and contains the headwaters of theYellow River,Yangtze River, andMekong River. The reserve was established to protect the headwaters of these three rivers and consists of 18 subareas, each containing three zones which are managed with differing degrees of strictness.

Qinghai Lake is the largest salt water lake in China, and the second largest in the world. Other large lakes areLake Hala in theQilian mountains, lakesGyaring andNgoring in the headwater region of the Yellow River,Lake Donggi Cona, and many saline andsalt lakes in the western part of the province.

TheQaidam basin lies in the northwest part of the province at an altitude between 3000 and 5000 meters above sea level. About a third of this resource rich basin is desert.

•  
  Nyenpo Yurtse,Jigzhi County, Qinghai
•  
  Riyue Mountain in Qinghai

The average elevation of Qinghai is approximately 3000 m.^[31] Mountain ranges include theTanggula Mountains andKunlun Mountains, with the highest point beingBukadaban Feng at 6860 m.^[32] Due to the high altitude, Qinghai has quite cold winters (harsh in the highest elevations), mild summers, and a largediurnal temperature variation.^{[citation needed]} Its mean annual temperature is approximately −5 to 8 °C (23 to 46 °F), with January temperatures ranging from −18 to −7 °C (0 to 19 °F) and July temperatures ranging from 15 to 21 °C (59 to 70 °F).^{[citation needed]} It is also prone to heavy winds as well assandstorms from February to April. Significant rainfall occurs mainly in summer, while precipitation is very low in winter and spring, and is generally low enough to keep much of the provincesemi-arid orarid.^{[citation needed]}

The Politics of Qinghai Province in thePeople's Republic of China are structured in a one party-government system like all other governing institutions inmainland China.

TheGovernor of Qinghai is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Qinghai. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the QinghaiChinese Communist Party Committee Secretary.

Because the Han form Qinghai's ethnic majority^[30] and because none of its many ethnic minorities have clear dominance over the rest, the province is not administered as an autonomous region. Instead, the province has many ethnic autonomous areas at the district and county levels.^[27] Qinghai is administratively divided into eightprefecture-level divisions: twoprefecture-level cities and sixautonomous prefectures:

The eightprefecture-level divisions of Qinghai are subdivided into 44county-level divisions (6districts, 4county-level cities, 27counties and 7autonomous counties).

There are over 37 recognized ethnic groups among Qinghai's population of 5.6 million, withHan population standing at 50.5% of the total population andnational minorities making up 49.5% of the population.^[49] In 2010,Tibetan population stood at 20.7%,Hui 16%,Tu (Monguor) 4%, with also some groups ofMongol, andSalar, all of those groups being the most populous in the province.Han Chinese predominate in the cities ofXining,Haidong,Delingha andGolmud, and elsewhere in the northeast. The Hui are concentrated in Xining, Haidong,Minhe County,Hualong County, andDatong County. TheTu people predominate inHuzhu County and the Salars inXunhua County; Tibetans and Mongols are sparsely distributed across the rural western part of the province.^[27] Of the Muslim ethnic groups in China, Qinghai has communities of Hui, Salar,Dongxiang, andBao'an.^[16] The Hui dominate the wholesale business in Qinghai.^[50]

The predominant religions in Qinghai areChinese folk religions (includingTaoist traditions andConfucianism) andChinese Buddhism among theHan Chinese. The largeTibetan population practicesTibetan schools of Buddhism or traditional Tibetan Bön religion, while theHui Chinese practiceIslam.Christianity is the religion of 0.76% of the province's population according to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2004.^[52] According to a survey of 2010, 17.51% of the population of Qinghai follow Islam.^[51]

From September 1848, the city was the seat of a short-lived Latin CatholicApostolic Vicariate (pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction) of Kokonur (alias Khouhkou-noor, Kokonoor), but it was suppressed in 1861. No incumbent(s) recorded.^[53]

Qinghai has been influenced by interactions "between Mongol and Tibetan culture, north to south, and Han Chinese and Inner Asia Muslim culture, east to west".^[27] The languages of Qinghai have for centuries formed aSprachbund, withZhongyuan Mandarin,Amdo Tibetan,Salar,Yugur, andMonguor borrowing from and influencing one another.^[54] In mainstreamChinese culture, Qinghai is most associated with theTale of King Mu, Son of Heaven.^{[citation needed]} According to this legend,King Mu of Zhou (r. 976–922 BCE) pursued hostileQuanrong nomads to eastern Qinghai, where the goddessXi Wangmu threw the king a banquet in theKunlun Mountains.^[55]

The main religions in Qinghai areTibetan Buddhism,Islam andChinese Folk Religions. TheDongguan Mosque has been continuously operating since 1380.^[23]: 402 Measures of education in Qinghai are low, particularly among the ethnic minorities.^[27] Theyak, which is native to Qinghai, is widely used in the province for transportation and its meat.^[30] The Mongols of Qinghai celebrate theNaadam festival on theQaidam Basin every year.^[56]

Qinghai's economy is amongst the smallest in China. Itsnominal GDP in 2022 was just RMB 361 billion (US$50 billion) and contributes to about 0.30% of the entire country's economy. Per capita GDP was RMB 60,724 (US$9,028) (nominal), the 24th in China.^[57]

Its heavy industry includes iron and steel production, located near its capital city of Xining. Oil and natural gas from theQaidam Basin have also been an important contributor to the economy.^[58] Salt works operate at many of the province's numerous salt lakes.

Outside of the provincial capital, Xining, most of Qinghai remains underdeveloped. Qinghai ranks second lowest in China in terms of highway length, and will require a significant expansion of its infrastructure to capitalize on the economic potential of its rich natural resources.^[58]

Xining Economic & Technological Development Zone (XETDZ) was approved as state-level development zone in July 2000. It has a planned area of 4.4 km². XETDZ lies in the east of Xining, 5 km from the city centre. Xining is located in the east of the province at the upper reaches of theHuangshui River, one of the Yellow River's branches. The city is surrounded by mountains with an average elevation of 2261 m, the highest at 4393 m. XETDZ is the first of its kind at the national level on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is established to fulfill the nation's strategy of developing the west.

XETDZ enjoys a convenient transportation system, connected by the Xining-Lanzhou expressway and running through by two main roads, the broadest in the city. It is 4 km from the railway station, 15 km from Xi'ning Airport—a grade 4D airport with 14 airlines to cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Xi'an. Xining is Qinghai province's passage to the outside world, a transportation hub with more than ten highways, over 100 roads and two railways, Lanzhou-Qinghai and Qinghai-Tibet Railways in and out of the city.

It focuses on the development of following industries: chemicals based on salt lake resources, nonferrous metals, and petroleum and natural gas processing; special medicine, foods and bio-chemicals using local plateau animals and plants; new products involving ecological and environmental protection, high technology, new materials as well as information technology; and services such as logistics, banking, real estate, tourism, hotel, catering, agency and international trade.^[59]

There are many tourist attractions center onXining, the provincial seat of Qinghai.

During the hot summer months, many tourists from the hot southern and eastern parts of China travel to Xining, as the climate of Xining in July and August is quite mild and comfortable, making the city an ideal summer retreat.

Qinghai Lake (青海湖;qīnghǎi hú) is another tourist attraction, albeit further from Xining thanKumbum Monastery (Ta'er Si). The lake is the largest saltwater lake in China, and is also located on the "Roof of the World", the Tibetan Plateau. The lake itself lies at 3,600 m elevation. The surrounding area is made up of rollinggrasslands and populated by ethnic Tibetans. Most pre-arranged tours stop at Bird Island (鸟岛;niǎo dǎo). An international bicycle race takes place annually from Xining to Qinghai Lake.

TheLanqing Railway, running betweenLanzhou,Gansu andXining, the province's capital, was completed in 1959 and is the major transportation route in and out of the province. A continuation of the line, theQinghai-Tibet Railway viaGolmud and western Qinghai, has become one of the most ambitious projects in PRC history. It was completed in October 2005 and now links Tibet with the rest of China through Qinghai.

Construction on theGolmud–Dunhuang Railway, in the province's northwestern part, started in 2012.

SixNational Highways run through the province.

Xining Caojiabao International Airport provides service toBeijing,Lanzhou,Golmud andDelingha. Smaller regional airports,Delingha Airport,Golog Maqin Airport,Huatugou Airport,Qilian Airport andYushu Batang Airport, serve the province's smaller communities; plans exist for the construction of three more by 2020.^[60]

Since theMinistry of Industry and Information Technology began its "Access to Telephones Project", Qinghai has invested 640 million yuan to providetelephone access to 3,860 out of its 4,133 administrative villages. At the end of 2006, 299 towns had receivedInternet access. However, 6.6 percent of villages in the region still have no access to the telephone. These villages are mainly scattered inQingnan Area, with 90 percent of them located inYushu andGuoluo. The average altitude of these areas exceeds 3600 meters, and the poor natural conditions hamper the establishment oftelecommunications facilities in the region.

Satellite phones have been provided to 186 remote villages in Qinghai Province as of September 14, 2007.^{[citation needed]} The areas benefited were Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Qinghai has recently been provided with satellite telephone access. In June 2007,China Satcom carried out an in-depth survey in Yushu and Guoluo, and made a special satellite phones for these areas. Two phones were provided to each village for free, and calls were charged at the rate of 0.2 RMB (about a quarter of a US cent at that time) per minute for both local and national calls, with the extra charges assumed by China Satcom. No monthly rent was charged on the satellite phone. International calls were also available.

• Qinghai University (青海大学)
• Qinghai Normal University (青海师范大学)
• Qinghai University for Nationalities (青海民族大学)
• Qinghai Medical College (青海医学院)
• Qinghai Radio & Television University (青海广播电视大学)

• 2010 Yushu earthquake
• Amdo
• Geladandong
• Haplogroup D-M15 (Y-DNA)
• Haplogroup O3 (Y-DNA)
• Iris qinghainica (native plant of Qinghai)
• Major national historical and cultural sites in Qinghai
• Tectonic summary of Qinghai

• Official website (in Chinese)
• Memorials from Qinghai from the 19th century.