Cycle China - Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake – Bird Island – Tibetan Plateau – Snow-capped Mountains – Historic Buddhist Monastery – Mongolian, Hui, Tu, and Sala Minority Cultures – the Great Wall – Beijing

Qinghai Lake, “Blue Sea” in Tibetan and Mongolian, sits high atop the Tibetan Plateau: one of the most remote, rugged and spectacularly beautiful regions on earth. At 3195m, Qinghai Lake gives its name to the province it occupies and is China’s largest saltwater lake. The region forms the headwaters of several of Asia’s major rivers including the Yellow River, the Yangze River and the Mekong River making it incredibly important to vast populations across Asia. Predominately populated by hardy Tibetan semi-nomadic herders, Qinghai also has populations of Mongolian, Hui (Chinese Muslims), Tu, and Sala ethnic minorities as well as the majority Han Chinese.