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Geographical location
 Qinghai
Province, abbreviated as "Qing" in Chinese,
got its name from its Qinghai Lake, the largest inland
saltwater lake in the country. The province lies on the
northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in west
China, bordering Gansu and Sichuan provinces, Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region. As
the origin of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang rivers,
Qinghai has an area of 720,000 square kilometers, the
fourth largest in China. Its territory includes 31.6 million
hectares of grassland, 589,900 hectares of cultivated
land and 250,000 hectares of forests. The remaining are
mountains, lakes, deserts, gobi and glaciers.
Capital:
Xining
Major Cities: Xining, Golmud, Lenghu, Da Qaidam, Yushu, Gonghe,
Delingha
Neighboring
Areas: Gansu and Sichuan provinces; Tibet Autonomous
Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Attractions in Qinghai
Population:
5.165 million (by the end of 2000)
Population growth rate: 13.1¡ë
Ethnicity:
 Qinghai
is inhabited by 55 ethnic groups, and the population of
minority ethnic groups has reached 2.35 million, or 45.5
percent of the province¡¯s total. Besides the
Han, China¡¯s majority, there are the Tibetans,
accounting for 21.89 percent of the province¡¯s
total population; the Huis, accounting for 15.89 percent;
the Tus accounting for 3.85 percent of the province¡¯s
total; the Salars accounting for 1.85 percent; and the
Mongolians, accounting for 1.71 percent. The Salar and
Tu ethnic groups are unique to Qinghai.
Literacy (by the end of 2000):
Primary-school graduates: 1.6 million
Junior middle school graduates: 1.12 million
High school graduates: 540,464
University and college graduates: 170,929
Compared with 1990, the numbers of persons receiving education
of various levels among each 10,000 people have increased:
college: from 149 to 300; high school: from 828 to 1,043;
junior middle school: from 1,776 to 2,660; and primary
school: from 2,649 to 3,094.
Total population of age 15 and over who are illiterate
or semi-illiterate: 934,283
Illiterate rate: 18.03 percent (1990: 27.7 percent)
Elevation:
The average elevation is more than 3,000 meters above
sea level, varying from 1,650 meters to 6,860 meters,
while 54 percent of the area is between 4,000 and 5,000
meters. The province is divided into the Qilian Mountains,
the Qaidam Basin, and the Qingnan Plateau.
Mountains:
Altun and Qilian Mountains in the north; Kunlun, Hoh Xil,
and Qimantag in the west Tanggula, where China's longest
river, the Yangtze, has its source, in the southwest;
A'nyemaqen and Bayan Har in the southeast, with the 5,464-kilometer
Yellow River originating from the latter
Rivers: Yellow River and tributaries; Tuotuo-Tongtian
River, which is the upper reach of the Yangtze River;
inland intermittent rivers in the basin
Lakes: Qinghai Lake, China's largest salt lake
with an area of 4,583 square kilometers; Gyaring and Ngoring
Lakes, two adjacent fresh water lakes; many smaller lakes,
salt lakes, and marshes
Climate:
It has a plateau continental climate thanks to its elevation,
topography, latitude and atmospheric circulation. The
province has a long and not-cold winter and a short and
cool summer. The temperature varies greatly in the province
with an average annual temperature of ¨C5.6¡æ-8.7¡æ.
The precipitation also varies noticeably, the southeast
area receiving 450-600 ml of rainfalls annually.
Average
Temperature: -18 C
to -7C
in January, 5C
to 21C
in July
Annual Average Rainfall: 700 mm in the eastern
river valley, less than 50 mm in the Qaidam Basin; precipitation
decreasing from east to west
Natural resources
Minerals:
A total of 125 minerals have had their deposits verified.
Of these, 50 are among the top ten in terms of reserves
in the country and 11, including potassium chloride and
magnesium salts, have the largest deposits of their kinds
in China. Of the 45 urgently needed minerals in China,
21 have been found in the province, their deposits all
ranking among the top ten in the country. In addition,
Qinghai has more than 30 salt lakes with proved reserves
of 70 billion tons. Qinghai is also rich in nonferrous
metals and non-metallic minerals. Its asbestos reserve
leads other provinces and regions in China. The famed
Qaidam Basin is abundant in natural gas and oil. There
are 16 oilfields and six gas fields. The total oil reserve
is 1.244 billion tons, of which 200 million tons has been
explored; the explored gas reserve is 47.2 billion cubic
meters.
Hydraulic energy:
The province has 178 hydropower stations with a total
installed generation capacity of 21.66 million kw, which
has an exploitable capacity of 18 million kw, and generate
77 billion kwh annually. The province plans to build seven
more medium-sized hydropower stations, which, with a total
installed generation capacity of 11 million kw, will produce
36.8 billion kwh each year. The construction cost of each
power station in Qinghai is 20-40 percent lower than that
of the national average. The province is also rich in
solar, wind and geothermal energy.
Pastures:
Qinghai is one of the five major pasturelands in China.
It boasts 31.6 million hectares of grazing land, accounting
for 15 percent of the country¡¯s total. Among
the 940 species of grass growing in its grasslands, 190
species are of high nutrition with crude protein, crude
fat and low coarse fiber. The livestock includes sheep,
yak, horse, camel and goat, all cold-resistant. Qinghai¡¯s
domestic yaks top the country in number and account for
one-third of the world¡¯s total.
Wild animals and plants:
Of the wild plants discovered in Qinghai, some 1,000
have economic value, including over 100 medicinal herbs.
Its Chinese caterpillar fungus, in particular, is famous
in China and abroad. Qinghai has 290 kinds of birds and
109 species of mammal beasts, 21 of them being under first-class
state protection, 53 being under second-class state protection,
36 being under provincial protection, and 22 having been
listed in the International Trade Convention on Endangered
Wild Animals and Plants, Appendixes I and II.
Tourism resources:
Qinghai features ethnic custom tours unique to the
plateau. It has over ten 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.
Environment and current issues
Soil erosion, water shortage, and deforestation. Qinghai
is the original place of several rivers and is thus important
to the ecological balance of the entire region. In the
coming 15 years, the province will improve its conservation
of the ecological balance, including the protection of
the water and soil in six areas: the sources of the Yangtze
and Yellow rivers, Qinghai Lake, the arid mountains in
the east, the Longyang Gorge Reservoir, and the Qaidam
Basin. It is necessary not only to strengthen the protection
of natural forests, grasslands, and other sources of wild
plants and animals but also to increase the restoration
of deteriorated grasslands and the construction of shelter-forests.
It is also necessary to increase water and soil conservation
and keep the water sources clean. The target is to build
a more beautiful Qinghai by the mid-21st century.
Transportation
Railways:
Four railway trunks like the Lanzhou-Qinghai and Qinghai-Tibet
railway trunks along with 59 special railway lines, totaling
1,100 kilometers, run east and west through the province.
By the end of 2000, the passenger-transport volume reached
3.52 million person times, and the cargo volume reached
8.33 million tons.
Highways:
The operational highways total 19,679 kilometers, and
the highway transport network with Xining at the center
radiates to all parts of the province.
Airports:
The civil aviation air routes total 10,000 kilometers,
and the province has flights from Xining to Beijing, Urumqi,
Lanzhou, Xi¡¯an, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai,
and Lhasa.
Telecommunications
Post and telecommunications are comparatively advanced.
Computer-controlled telephone lines link Xining, and most
prefectures and counties in the province to other parts
of the country and to more than 160 foreign countries.
Wireless telecom services have also developed rapidly.
The transmission system has utilized cables, microwaves,
and satellites. Among the city dwellers, there are 25.5
telephones for every 100 persons. Mobile phone users have
reached 210,700. There are now 6,498 Internet users and
the figure is increasingly rapidly. |
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