Qinghai situated in the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau covers an area of 720,000 sq. km, Flanked by two big mountain ranges—Qilian in the north, Tanggula in the south, 4/5 of this highland averages 3,000 meters above sea level. In its middle, stands another big mountain spur the Kunlun. 95% of province is pastureland. What makes the physical feature of the region unique is that two major Chinese waters, the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers all originate here: one from the southwest slop of main peak of Tanggula; one from northern slope of Bayanhar.
Qinghai's climate is characterized by short cool summers and long freezing winters. Due to drastic temperature fluctuations from day to night, summer may be the best time to visit Qinghai because this is when the road to Tibet, via Golmud is open and its climate is friendliest to its visitors.
The province is well-know for animal-husbandry and abounds in natural resources. The Xining wool, the yak hide, the otter hide, the leather products, the pilose antler, and the wooden fabric enjoy a brisk market both at home and abroad. In addition, the region grows quite a variety of cash crops and Chinese herbs. These include fritillary, lyceum Chinese, the Chinese caterpillar fungus, Chinese giant beans as well as rhubarb, musk, honey and so on. Qinghai is an important livestock breeding center. Its livestock includes sheep, yaks, pian niu (crossbreed of bulls and yaks) and horses. Qinghai produces large quantities of sheep wool, meat, leather and sausage casings for other parts of the country. It is an important producer of medicinal materials such as caterpillar fungus, antlers, musk and rhubarb. Qinghai Lake is famous for its scaleless naked carp. The province grows spring wheat, highland barley, broad beans, potatoes and rapeseed. Qinghai is rich in petroleum, lead, zinc, copper, chromium, cobalt, nickel, iron, asbestos, mirabilite, gypsum, lake salt, potassium, boron and coal.
The province is naturally divided into two parts by Riyue Mountain: pastoral area in the west and agricultural area in the east. The Qaidam Basin in the northwest is a large, relatively unoccupied area. Most of the population resides in the river valleys in the east. By area, Qinghai is the largest province in China - excluding the autonomous regions of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia, which are technically not provinces.
The province is home to 411 species of vertebrates. Of the wild plants discovered, some 1,000 have economic value, and 680 are medicinal herbs. Of the wild animals, 21 kinds are under first-class state protection, 53 are under second-class state protection, 36 are under provincial protection, and 22 have been listed in the International Trade Convention on Endangered Wild Animals and Plants, Appendixes I and II.
Qinghai features ethnic custom tours unique to the plateau. It has scenic spots including the Birds Islet, the Mengda Natural Reserves, Ta'er Monastery, snow-capped A¡¯Nyemaqen Mountain, Sun-and-Moon Hill, and Longyang Gorge Reservoir, the largest artificial reservoir in China, and the Dulan International Game Land.
Ta-er Temple is Buddhism temple in Qinghai province, it occupies an area of more than 600 mus. The buildings are distributed on the Lutus Mountain, with tremendous momentum. The butter flower, colorful Fresco and embroidery are three unique treasures in the temple.
Labrang Temple is located in the intersection of Gansu, Sichuan, Qinghai province, it is full of human culture. It is famous in home and abroad as one of Gelu style temples. It owes the most Buddhist sutra and the largest Lamaism school.
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