Xining

Xining has a history of over 2,100 years[4] and was a chief commercial hub on the Hexi Corridor caravan route to Tibet, handling especially timber, wool and salt in ancient times. The trade along the Hexi Corridor was part of a larger trade corridor along the Northern Silk Road, whose use was intensified in the 1st century BC after efforts by the Han dynasty to control this route.[5]

Under the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), a county called Linqiang was established to control the local Qiang tribesmen. It was again a frontier county under the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties; during the 7th and early 8th centuries it was a center of constant warfare with Tuyuhun and Tibet. In 763, it was overrun by the Tibetans and while under Tibetan control was known to the Chinese as Qingtang cheng (青唐城). Recovered by the Song dynasty in 1104, it received the name Xining (meaning "peace in the west") and has been the seat of a prefecture or superior prefecture under that name since that time. In the late 16th century, the Kumbum Monastery was founded some 19 km (12 mi) to the southeast, establishing Xining as an important religious center for the Gelug School of Buddhists.

A major earthquake occurred May 22, 1927, measuring at a magnitude of 7.6. It was one of the deadliest earthquakes in China with a total count of over 40,000 deaths. It also caused large land fractures.

Xining was the extraterritorial capital of the Koko Nor territory and remained in Gansu until 1928, when it became the provincial capital of the newly established independent province of Qinghai.[6][7]

Xining was subjected to aerial bombardment by Japanese warplanes in 1941 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The bombing spurred all ethnicities in Qinghai, including the local Qinghai Mongols and Qinghai Tibetans, against the Japanese.[8][9] The Salar Muslim General Han Youwen directed the defense of the city of Xining during air raids by Japanese planes.[10][11]

Xining was given municipal status in 1945.

Under the rule of Governor Ma Bufang, Xining, like the rest of Qinghai, underwent industrialization and modernization. In 1947 the USA sold Ma Bufang a piped water (sewage) system which was installed in Xining.[12] Ma Bufang also promoted education. He made businessmen methodically clean up Xining by serving as insect exterminators.[13]

Since the late 1950s, when the Liujiaxia Dam and hydroelectric project came into operation in neighboring Gansu province, Xining has been linked by a high-tension electrical grid to both Liujia and Lanzhou. It also uses local coal from mines at Datongxian to the north. A modern woollen mill was installed at Xining before 1957. The city also has a leather industry and is a market for salt from the Qaidam region. During the late 1950s medium-sized iron and steelworks were built there, supplying metal to Lanzhou.

Construction of a highway to the mineral-rich Qaidam basin, and completion in 1959 a link to the Chinese rail network via Lanzhou in Gansu province, has spurred industrial development. This effort was part of a plan of the central government to rapidly exploit oil and pasturage in the Xining area beginning in the 1950s.[14]

Xining is located in the eastern part of Qinghai Province and lies on the Huangshui River. The four urban districts have a total area of 343 km² (132 sq mi).

Xining is located on the eastern edge of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the upper reaches of the Huangshui River. It is the political, economic, and cultural center of Qinghai Province with an average altitude of about 2,200 metres (7,200 ft). Human activity in the region can be traced to 2,100 years ago. During the Western and Eastern Han dynasties, owing to its developing agriculture, Xining was paid notice due to its economic and military significance. As well as being an important hinge between the Central Plains and the western part of China in ancient times, Xining was an important link in the Silk Road. It continues to be an important rail and road link to the hinterlands of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.

Xining has also been dubbed the Summer Resort Capital of China owing to its cool summer, with a borderline cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk)/dry winter humid continental climate (Dwb). Conditions are influenced by the aridity and high altitude. Nights are cold or cool throughout the year, and the diurnal temperature variation often reaches or exceeds 15 °C (27 °F). The monthly 24-hour average temperatures ranges from −7.9 °C (17.8 °F) in January to 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in July; the annual mean is 6.0 °C (42.8 °F), still making it one of the warmest locations in Qinghai due to the low elevation by provincial standards. Rainfall falls mainly from May to September, and the area is often dry and sunny: with monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 49 percent in September to 67 percent in November, the city receives 2,540 hours of bright sunshine per year. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −26.6 °C (−16 °F) to 36.5 °C (98 °F).[15] Snow cover is very sparse due to the dry winters.

View of partial Xining skyline from the north

The GDP per capita was 49,200 RMB (US$7,897) in 2015. Its main industries are wool spinning and textiles, fur, meat, milk, salt, and light processing industries.

The municipality oversees seven districts and counties. The data here are presented in km² and in population according to 2010 Census:

Map
Chengzhong Chengdong Chengxi Chengbei Datong County Huangzhong Huangyuan County
Name	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Area (km2)	Population (2010)	Density (/km2)
Urban
Chengzhong District	城中区	Chéngzhōng Qū	11	296,987	26,999
Chengdong District	城东区	Chéngdōng Qū	115	359,688	3,128
Chengxi District	城西区	Chéngxī Qū	79	242,627	3,071
Chengbei District	城北区	Chéngběi Qū	138	299,002	2,167
Suburban
Huangzhong District	湟中区	Huángzhōng Qū	2,430	437,835	180
Rural
Huangyuan County	湟源县	Huángyuán Xiàn	1,609	136,632	85
Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County	大通回族土族自治县	Dàtōng Huízú Tǔzú Zìzhìxiàn	3,090	435,937	139

People's Park, the biggest park in downtown Xining

Jianguo Avenue in Xining, prior to 2013 reconstruction of the railway station

Xining is situated in a fertile mountain basin in the valley of the Huangshui (river), a tributary of the Yellow River, that acts as a river port. The city lies about 200 km (120 mi) west of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, on what was traditionally the main trade route from northern China into Tibet and the Qaidam Basin. These routes are now followed by modern highways.

Railway

Inside the Xining railway station

Since 1959 Xining station has been connected by the Lanzhou–Qinghai Railway to China's railway network. Later, this railway was extended into the Qaidam area via Haiyan near Qinghai Lake to Golmud, and, since 2006, to Lhasa, Tibet. (See the Qinghai–Tibet Railway).

The second major railway serving Xining is the Lanzhou–Xinjiang High-Speed Railway, opened in December 2014. When first opened, it just provided high-speed train service to Lanzhou and Urumqi (and points in between). With the opening of the Baoji–Lanzhou high-speed railway on July 9, 2017, it has been connected to the rest of the nation's high-speed rail network.

Unlike many other Chinese cities, where the conventional and high-speed trains stop at different train stations, Xining railway station is served by both types of trains. Thus it can be used as a transfer point for e.g. a passenger traveling from Xinjiang to Tibet.

A halal butcher shop

Xining's cuisine is distinct from other Chinese cities and mainly uses food products native to the area.

Local specialties include: Feng'er Liji (a round lamb tenderloin), Danbai Chongcao Ji (a medicine cuisine made of chicken, Chinese caterpillar fungus and eggs), and Jinyu Facai (pork wrapped in flagelliform nostoc and shaped as a goldfish).

There are also many small restaurants offering noodles. Gan Ban is a very common noodle dish. Perhaps Mian Pian, which means "noodle leaves" is the most common noodle plate among the Qinghai people. On the streets, many Muslims sell spicy lamb brochettes. Due to the cold climate, residents of Xining are also fond of strong spirits; Xining has the reputation of being one of the regions of heaviest alcohol consumption in China.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Xining.

Look up Xining, Sining, or Hsi-ning in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Xining.

• Xining Government Website