Xining Overview

Xining is the capital and economic center as well as culture center and transportation hub in Qinghai Province, which is the door to Tibet. Covering an area of 7,665 square kilometers with the urban area of 350 square kilometers , Xining has 6 districts and 3 counties. The topography of the city lowers from north to south, which is in the shape of a boat. The Huangshui River flows across the city from west to east, and the highest altitude in the city is 4,394 meters high above the sea level with the average altitude of 2,261 meters  high in the city center.

Xining was an important passage of the ancient South Silk Road and Tang-Tibetan Ancient Road in ancient times, which functioned as the transportation hub and the military city in the northwest, and it was award “the Throat to Tibet” by the later generations. After the completion of Qinghai- Tibetan Railway, Xining has become the ending point of Lan- Qing Railway (from Lanzhou Railway Station to Qinghai Railway Station) and the starting point of Qing-Zang Railway (from Qinghai Railway Station to Tibet Railway Station) and Qing-Zang Highway (from Qinghai to Tibet).

Xining is a multi-ethnic city with 34 nationalities living harmoniously in the city, among which the minority nationalities are as many as 33 such as Hui Nationality and Mongolian Nationality. The number of the population living in the city reaches 2.21 million with Han Nationality people as the majority, taking up 77% of the whole population. Tibetan Buddhism and Islam are the major faith groups in the city. Other religious groups include Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Catholicism.