Xining

Xining (西宁; Xīníng; Tibetan: Sulang) is the capital of Qinghai Province and the capital of Xining City District, a prefecture of Qinghai. It has a population of around 2,200,000.

Understand
Xining is one of the major gateways to the Tibetan Plateau. It is an ancient highland city on the Yellow River which offers many scenic spots and historical sites. Although the city has a strong Islamic flavor, as it is home to many Hui people, you will start getting a more Tibetan feel as you move away from the city.

By plane


The airport bus makes a run the long distance bus station next to the train station at regular intervals and heads back to the city centre whenever a flight lands. The return bus stand is directly in front of the airport exit door. The 30-min ride to/from the airport ¥21.

By bus
Long Distance Bus Station is on Jianguo Road, on the other side of the river in view of the train station.

From March 2016, buses from Yushu was leaving passengers at another bus station, in the west of the city. So make sure to ask the driver where is the bus going to terminate, or you may find yourself quite lost.
 * Lanzhou - takes about 5 hours
 * Tongren - takes about 4 hours
 * Xunhua - takes about 5 hours
 * Yushu - takes about 14-18 hours
 * Zhangye - takes about 9 hours
 * Dunhuang - takes about 20 hours
 * Jiuquan - takes about 10 hours
 * Kanbula - takes about 2.5 hours
 * Huatugou - There's a direct bus to Huatugou, but the town is closed to foreigners.

There are also buses for Golmud, Lhasa and Yinchuan at the western end of the square in front of the train station.

Nanchuan West Road Bus Terminal 南川西路客运站

If you are headed to any of the regional towns south of Xining, including Guide (贵德) and Guinan (贵南) there are regular buses from the West Bus Station (汽车西站). You don't need to book ahead, so an easy day trip might be to jump on a bus here and see a regional city before catching the last return bus.

If you are headed to Maduo 玛多 there is a bus that leaves at 8AM (there may be other times) it leaves from Nanchuan West Road Bus Terminal. You can buy tickets in advance from either bus station.

By bus
There are plenty of buses that get you around town. The most useful is bus #1 that runs through the centre of town along Dajie to the train/bus station. All fares are ¥1 regardless of distance.

By taxi
Taxis run on the meter (¥8 flagfall) but some drivers are open to negotiation, especially late at night.

Buy
Xining is home to numerous factories making Tibetan carpets.

Eat
Xining's main minority groups provide a large portion of the food on offer. The Hui, a broad term for Chinese Muslims, serve up spicy noodles, lamb kababs and flatbread (bing). Tibetan food choices are concentrated around the train station, mostly small places the serve momos and noodles and seat guests on small coaches.

Local food
There is a restaurant area right next to the Shuijing Xiang Bazaar, in the center of the city, and throughout the evening and into the night there are many street stalls serving good food around Ximen and on the western side of Jianguo Road.



Western food
Western food options are very slim, but not bad for a city so remote.



Coffee
The city is littered with small coffee shops, especially around the newer apartment complexes that are being developed. See below for some of the better ones.



Alcohol
A number of bars are located at the end of the city's main snack street. These tiny places each have only a dozen tables, and all offer extensive drink specials. Beer starts at ¥6 for a Tsingtao, but expensive imported liquor is also available. There is usually no cover charge.



Budget
There are dozens of small guesthouses near the train and long distance bus station. Look for the characters "招待所," which in this part of town are on every other building. Most places seem aimable to taking foreigners, and prices range from ¥10 in a grimy four-room bunk (expect the other occupants to smoke in the room all night long) to ¥100 for a deluxe double. More guesthouses can be found around the town's West Gate, or Ximen.



Go next
The new train has two useful locations either side - one is the local bus depot, the other the long distance bus station. The long distance bus station has a Tourism Information Desk and is geared up to help tourists - the staff are very helpful. Don't count on anyone speaking English however.

From the long distance bus station next to the train station you can purchase tickets for a direct tourist bus which will take you to Qinghai Lake, Kanbula Forest Park and Kumbum Monastery in one day. This government run service is around ¥100. Site admissions are extra. First bus leaves at 8:30AM with others put on with demand. Centre opens at 6:30AM and closes around 6PM (!)


 * Kumbum Monastery (塔尔寺 Tǎ'ěrsì) - one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist sites in China, in the village of Huangzhong.
 * Tongren
 * Tu Minority Village - located at Weiyuanzhen (威远镇) Old Village, 32 km from Xining
 * Qinghaihu National Park (青海湖 - also called Lake Koko Nor) - this 5,694 km lake is the largest lake in China.
 * Kanbula Forest Park - about a 2-3 hr bus ride from Xining, great for a day trip or overnight. Spectacular mountains and danxia landscapes, and beautiful Lijia Reservoir. ¥240/person entrance fee.
 * Guide (贵德) - Take a bus to this charming, predominantly tTbetan village, beyond the southern mountains from the west bus stop.

Note that China Rail has completely reformed its tickiet booking processes. It is now difficult for ticket scalper a to operate, despite what is reported about Xining elsewhere. In the middle of October Festival 2016 tickets were available a few days in advance to almost any destination available.

Trips from Xining travel agencies offer apparently cheap ¥60 day trips to Qinghaihu National Park. This price does not include entry to 丹噶尔 old town (¥50), 赞普林卡 (¥40), 日月山 (¥40) or the wharf at Qinghaihu (Much100) [the 'park' itself]. The last of these seems the most overpriced for what it is - but you are expected to pay. There may be a couple of forced shopping stops, including a minimum 30-minute wait at a jade/crystal sales outlet.


 * Xining is also the northeastern terminus for the Qinghai–Tibet railway leading to Golmud and Lhasa.