Xining Travel Guide

 

 

 

If you are traveling in China, it is the halfway on your trip to Tibet. The city's sunlight is so bright, which will pierce your skin to some extent, even during cool weather. Suntan oil is a must for a Xining tour. Although the inhuman ultraviolet rays are so strong, the beautiful blue sky is very attractive to your eyes. The ultimate fairness of this color will arouse your desire of staying here with no thought of leaving.

 

The fragrance of grill mutton can be smelt all over the streets in Xining. Mutton dishes are so popular in this western China's city. Mo, a kind of tough bread eaten with meat and vegetable dishes, is a staple food in the northwestern region of China. Mo and mutton are the main delicacies on the serving tables in night markets of Xining city. It is said that when a traveler left Xining, the fragrance of mo and mutton would be sent into his taste buds, so he would only remember the grill mutton taste of Xining.

 

People

 

Xining is a typical Islamic city in China established about 2100 years ago, men walking on the city's streets with small, white hats on their heads are common scenes. White hat represents Islam in western China. Hui, Tibetans, Mongolians and other ethnic minorities occupied about one-fourth of the 2.12 million people here. 

 

Transportation

 

Xining is the capital of Qinghai Province, and is one of the traffic hubs in northwest China. The city is the starting points of Qinghai-Tibetan Railway and Qinghai-Tibetan Expressway, thus Xining is often regarded as the beginning of a Tibetan tour. Flight services are available in Xining to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and some other big cities in Mainland China.

 

Geography

 

Xining is located in the east of Qinghai Province and in the upper reaches of the branch of Yellow River, Huangshui River. The city is surrounded by hills with three rivers flowing through. The topography of Xining is high in altitude in the northwest and descending down in the southeast. The highest point in Xining is 4394m while in the downtown is 2261m above the sea level.

 

Climate

 

The city situates in the semi-arid continental plateau climate area, the main characteristics are low air pressure, abundant sunshine, small amount of annual rainfall and high evaporation. The lowest and the highest temperatures recorded are -18 and 31 degrees Celsius respectively. There is no extreme heat during summer but always quite cold in wintertime.