A brief introduction of Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Located in the Northest of Qinghai Province, Haibei borders Gansu Province in the north, Haixi Tibbetan Autonomous Prefecture in the west, Hainan Tibbetan Autonomous Prefecture in the south, and Xining and Haibei District in the southeast.

Haibei was a place where ethnic groups such as Xirong, Territory, and Tuyuhun lived together in ancient times. With the change of the times, in addition to the Han nationality in Haibei, there are other Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian, Tu, Salar and other ethnic minorities living here.

Haibei Prefecture is located in the central Qilian Mountains, with an average elevation of 3654 meters, a maximum altitude of 5287 meters, and a minimum altitude of 2180 meters. From the perspective of landforms, there are valleys, basins, hills, low mountains, Zhongshan and high mountains.There are numerous mountains and lakes crisscrossing on this land. The most famous Mt Qilian and its branches stretching themselves on northeast to east range. The climate here belongs to the Continental Plateau Climate, with an average temperature of 0.3 ℃, when it is July and August, it is the hottest season with the most rains.

Haibei is a beautiful and a rich place with many ancient people here long long ago having left many national historical sites and unique culture on this land. Most important ones includes: Ganglonggou Caved Temple of Tang Dynasty, Ketu Ancient Town of Song Dynasty, the ancient triangle city of Song Dynasty. It is said that there once unearthed  Sarcophagus tomb in 1989, with more than 700 objects found.

Haibei is abundant in its tourism resources with so mant historical sites and natural scenic spots. The most outstanding attractions includes Heihe Grand Canyon. As the second largest inland river in china and flowing through Qinghai, Gansu and Mongulia, Heihe is regarded as the Mother River of Hexi Corridor. one of the most beautiful grassland in China, Qilian Mountain Grassland.

● Main Cities of Haibei

Qilian County

Nicknamed as the North Gate of Qinghai Province, Qilian County is located by the south of the Ancient Silk Road. As a key ecological tourism destination of the province, Qilian county boasts many attractions, like Qilian Pasture and Qilian Glacier and Forest Park. The former is one of the top six grasslands in China, and the latter is a national 4-star scenic area. It is well-known as Qilian Wonderland(or Fairyland), and represents the beauty of Qinghai Province.

The county is name after Qilian Mountain. Qilian was a word spoken by the ancient northern nomads, which means heavenly mountain in English. The mountain lies in the north of Qinghai Province. It is the home A variety of religions and traditional cultures have integrated in the land for centuries. It is an ideal place for visitors to appreciate the minorities’ authentic folk customs and traditions. The relic of the Tang-Tibet Ancient Path is one of the most impressive cultural attractions in Qinghai Province.Nowadays, Qilian attracts more and more tourists with its unique culture and gorgeous landscape. 

Menyuan Hui Autonomous County

Menyuan Hui Autonomous County is a county in the northeast of Qinghai Province, China, bordering Gansu province to the north. It is under the administration of Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Menyuan is situated on the Datong River between the Qilian Mountains and Daban Mountains. Gangshiqia Peak rises dramatically in the north of the county.

Members of more than five minorities live in this area, such as Hui, Tibetan, Tu, Mongolia and Sara. Menyuan is the production base of cole in the northern China and production base of oil plants in Qinghai Province.

Baili Rape Flowers – Rape Flower Tourist Festival is held in Menyuan in July every year. The golden rape flowers are in full bloom from the Qingshizui to the Xianmi gorges, about 50 kilometers long and 12 kilometers wide. The rape land in Qingshizui is flat and open, running southward directly to the foot of Qilian Mountain. Except for a few houses and the snow-capped Qilian Mountain, thousands of hectares of rape land reveal the same color, like a great piece of nugget. The golden world of Menyuan County is famous for its vast green fields and yellow rapeseed flowers.