Xining (meaning "western peace") - is the only big city in Qinghai and is the capital of the province. It is located at the northeast of the province. Xining is a long established Chinese city and a main stop on the ancient Silk Road trade route. It features nearby attractions like the Ta'er Lamasery and Qinghai Lake. Built in the 14th century, Taer is a center for Yellow Hat Lamism - Buddhist followers of the Dalai Lama. In the Islamic realm, Xining's Dongguan Mosque, founded in 1380, is the largest in the region.

About 130 kilometers from Xining is Qinghai Lake, China's largest inland saltwater body. Rumor has it that dinosaurs were seen around the lake, but only fish, fowl and human sightings were confirmed. Bird Island sanctuary is another provincial attraction, featuring migrating geese.

Famous for its huge grassy plains, Qinghai Province is also known as the Green Sea. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers have their sources here. And the world's highest highway runs through the Qinghai to Lhasa, Tibet. Along the way, you can see antelope, yak, donkeys, camels and lynx.

Place of Interest

Xining is the capital of Qinghai with local ethnic minorities including the Tibetan, Hui, Mongol, Tu and Salar, who are good at singing and dancing.

• The Ta'er Lamasery - one of the most important lamaseries with Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Yellow Sect of Lamaism, born here. It is the centre of the Yellow Hats sect of Lamaism built in 1397. Every year, four large Buddhist assemblies and religious celebrations are held here, during which various Buddhist activities such as displaying images of the Buddha, performing religious lama dancing, chanting scriptures, praying, tests for monks, debates on scriptures and the month-lng Tibetan Festival are held. The excellent collections in Kumbum are an eyeful of classic Chinese-Tibetan architecture preserved in its best condition for centuries. The three typical Tibetan Supreme Arts developed by the lama artists are embodied in Yak Butter Sculpture, Frescoes and Embossed Embroidery.
  
  

  Region	Venue	Date					Main Activities	Show
  		Chinese Calendar	Western Calendar				Content	Time
  			2002	2003	2004	2005
  Xining	Taer Lamasery	Jan 14	Feb 25	Feb 14	Feb 4	Feb 22	Performing religious lama dancing	Start from 12:00 noon
  		Jan 15	Feb 26	Feb 15	Feb 5	Feb 23	Yak Butter Sculptures Festival	Start from 17:00
  		Apr 14	May 25	May 14	Jun 1	May 21	Performing religious lama dancing	Start from 12:00 noon
  		Apr 15	May 26	May 15	Jun 2	May 22	Displaying images of the Buddha and performing lama dancing	Start from 08:00
  		Jun 7	Jul 16	Jul 6	Jul 23	Jul 12	Displaying images of the Buddha and performing lama dancing	Start from 08:00
  		Jun 8	Jul 17	Jul 7	Jul 24	Jul 13	Turning Golden Buddha and performing lama dancing	Start from 08:00
  		Sep 22	Oct 27	Oct 17	Nov 4	Oct 24	Whole day praying	Whole day
  		Sep 23	Oct 28	Oct 18	Nov 5	Oct 25	Performing religious dancing	Start from 12:00 noon

  
  
• Qinghai Lake - known as the Western Sea in ancient times, is somewhat surreal-looking saline lake lying 300 km west of Xining and 3200 metres above sea level. It is the largest inland salt-water lake and contains huge numbers of fish as well as artists' paradise in China. It is renowned for its mirrored pastel sunrise, azure beauty at midday and the indigo blues of sunset - natural scenery of vastness, beauty, mystery and quietness.
  
  
• Bird Island - the famous Bird Island is on the western side of Qinghai Lake. More than thousands of wild geese, gulls, cormorants, sandpipers, extremely rare black-necked cranes and many other birds live there. In order to avoid bad weather, some birds such as bar-headed goose, migrate to the warm place to spend the cold winter. Thus, only visit between March and early June, you can see birds in quantity. Despite its name, Bird Island is not really an island. The lakeshore receded and a pitch of land appeared, hence the "island'.
  
  
• Dongguan Big Mosque - one of the four great mosques in north-western part of China. The mosque has been beautifully built with golden pinnacles and glazed green tiles. The top of the Main Hall are adorned with gilded precious columns of Tibetan style which is unique in the world.
  
  
• Sun-Moon Hills - It was named after the legend that when Princess Wenchang in Tang Dynasty went into Tibet via the mountain, she accidentally broke her sun and moon mirrors. To commemorate this, two glazed tile-roofed pavilions of octagon, brick and wood structures in a typical Tibetan style were built.
  
  
• Qinghai Jinhe Tibetan Medicine Consortium - with strong sense of historical responsibility that aims to carry forward Tibetan medicine and other aspect of Tibetan culture which can benefit whole human being into the modern era based on a scientific approach combined with Tibetan medical tradition and pharmacology. The activities of the corporation merge the management of natural herbal resources for the production of Tibetan medicine with the provision of Tibetan medical services, research, tertiary-level education, medicine production and commercial marketing. It is due to such all -encompassing activities that Jinhe is a leader in Tibetan medical industry. As Jinhe moves towards a global market, it welcomes the supports from all communities. It is dedicated to providing traditional medicines with outstanding qualities of Tibetan medical tradition. There is an exhibition hall at the consortium which shows the history and development of the Tibetan medicine.

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