Highlights, Monuments & Scenic sites of North-West Qinghai Province :
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Qinghai Province of China
Highlights, Monuments and Scenic sites of Qinghai Province
There are but 16 museums in Qinghai Province. The Top Tourist attractions of Qinghai Province are considered to be the the Ta'Er (Kumbum) Monastery, The Dongguan Great Mosque of Xining first built in 1379 AD, the Giant Qinghai Lake which lies only 100 kilometers west of Xining, and the natural sceneries of the Province among which first and foremost the Mengda Nature Reserve. Next in popularity are the various minority communities near Xining and in South Qinghai Province. There are however many more smaller worthwhile things to see and places to visit.
Yes, that is correct: sections of the Great Wall of China are found in the Eastern-most parts of Tibet as well, where it functioned to prevent a complicated military bypass of the main Chinese Defenses along the Northern Hexi Corridor (in nearby Gansu Province), as well as the demarcation of the border with non-Han Tribes, in effect the border of China. Not much discussed by Chinese Tour-agencies nor published on in popular tour-guides, West of this (lesser) part of the Great Wall lay the territory of the Tibetans, for centuries ruled by the Lama's of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Although Xining functioned as a major
Schematic Map depicting the multiple layers of the Great Wall of circling Beijing and North and North-East China.
Chinese Military strongpoint since the 16Th Century, the main defenses of entire West China centered on the City of Lanzhou more to the East on the Yellow River.
The Gyaring and Ngoring Lake lie inside the administrative unit of the Golog (or Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (simplified Chinese: 果洛藏族自治州) an impoverished region which is also known (mainly among biologists) for the presence of its Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve (SNNR) (三江源国家级自然保护区).
In reality this large Wildlife and Ecological Reserve is spread across the Prefecture and includes many other area's within southern and eastern parts of Qinghai however the Regions east of Ngoring Lake, the Amnye Machin Mountains (Kekexili) and the source of the Yellow River are the most easily accesible regions.
The significance of the Park lies in the unique international approach that is used to mange this large region, and hopefully shield it from the negative influences of human development. Among things mining, construction, hunting and herding in these regions are strictly managed and monitored. In the most restricted zones almost no human activities are allowed. As these are also among the wildest regions in China, there is little risk of trespassing or disturbance by none locals.
In Total the 'Park' covers a surface area of about 363,000 km2, which makes up exactly 50.4% of Qinghai.
Included in it wholly or partially are 18 counties of the four Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures Yushu, Guoluo, Hainan, and Huangnan, and Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Highlights, Monuments & Scenic sites of South-West Qinghai Province :
Another Great Way to get acquainted with the Mother River is to travel by Road from Xining to Yushu (Gyêgu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (玉树藏族自治州) passing by the Ramsar wetlands of Elin Lake (better known outside China as Ngoring Hu or Ngoring Lake) west of Madoi. The Lake, located about halfway the distance to Yushu is considered to be the first Lake that the water of the Yellow River reaches after it flows from the ground at its source near Yushu (Gyêgu).
As the Yellow River is considered to be 'The Mother River' which gave birth to all of Chinese Civilization, both its source and its Eling Lake (Ngoring Hu) are revered as utterly sanctified by the Han People. The Lake is equally revered by Tibetans and a large Monument is established on the Lake Shore for ritual and tourism purposes.
The Yellow River flows from the Lake through Madoi, so the River can be seen in Town as well.
Travel from Madoi on to Yushu past the 5266 meter tall Bayan Har Mountain to reach down through Qingshuihe and Xiwu to Yushu.
Yushu itself is known to travelers mainly as the location of the largest yearly ethnic celebration in Western China (or East Tibet), however there is also the magnificent Yushu Monastery which is situated on a hilltop North of the Town overlooking the Valley. Do not miss out on a visit to the Monastery of Dondrub Ling if you are in Town (although the recent earthquake has once more damaged the Monastery severely). As you will find only slighly hinted at or completely ignored by your Tour Guide and most Travel Guides, especially the Chinese written and edited, Yushu Region is the birth region of Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, usually shortened to Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub) aka the current 14th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama was (re)born (re-incarnated) on July the 6Th of 1935 in Amdo Region of Tibet, and it is he who is currently the most important religious figure the Yushu Monastery has seen in its history. Enjoy the Tour and wonder about Yushu and the extra-ordinary Life of the Dalai Lama.
Among Natives the Town and Region are also known as 'the source of the Rivers', meaning that according to Tibetans the life giving water of the three most important rivers in China and South-East Asia flow from this source region. The Rivers in case are of course in order of importance, the Yangtze River (Jiangtse Jiang), the Yellow River (Huang He) and the Lancang River, which more southernly outside Tibet and China is known as the Mekong River.
Although technically speaking this is not entirely true (the Yangtze River source lies considerably more to the West) however even more than these three main rivers sprout from the Yushu Region, so it is truly an important source of water.
Visiting the true source of the Yellow River in Qumarleb County (of Yushu Prefecture) requires a well-prepared expedition using 4 wheeled vehicles and possibly horse or mule. An attempt can best be made during the summer months when weather is fairest, however the warm weather creates the disadvantage of melting permafrost, turning the unpaved trail to the source near the foot of Bayan Har Shan into a swamp.
Yushu can today be reached from Xiningby aircraft,howeverinthiscaseonemissesoutontheYellowRiver.
Apart from Yushu the ethnic Jewel in the richly decorated ethnic crown of Qinghai Province, there are various other locations of interest to be visited in these sparsely inhabited high-altitude regions.
Already mentioned is the Ngoring Lake near Madoi.
The Tibetan word for the lake translate as “ long blue lake” which describes the view of the lake as it is during the bright but short summers in region. The Ngoring Lake is not easily reached as it lies at a staggering 4.272 meters above sea level. The blue colors of the Lake are caused by its salinity. With a surface area of 610 square kilometres, the lake is large but surprsingly shallow with an average depth of only 17.6 meters. Regardless, the lake(s) hide some significant treasures.
Today they also serve as a protected wildlife sanctuary for a rare species of fish known as the Platypharodon extremus. The fish was first identified in this lake in 1891 AD, and is only found in Qinghai Tibet. Furthermore, not visible to anyone an ancient ice lens is buried under the North Rim of the Ngoring Lake. In 2007 AD, this ice-sheet was determined to be a kind of deep-buried lake ice, formed some 35.000 to 45.000 years ago, at which time the annual mean air temperature upon the Eastern Tibetan Plateaux (Qinghai) was about −10°Celcius, considerably lower than today.
The Ngoring Lake together with adjacent Gyaring Lake are considered Holy Entities in the traditions of The Tibetan People.
