Astonishing China: photographic aperitif – pt. 2.

Ni Hao!

Our China trip continues…

In the city of Xining we turned westward – thereby exchanging mountain forests, rivers and lakes for nothing much besides desert. Not that the views to be beheld were any worse for it…

So what can I say about this part of China? In no particular order, this is what:

These desert landscapes are in the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai, which sits next to the Tibetan Plateau – the Roof of the World; yes – the world’s highest (and largest) plateau above sea level. Yes – meaning breathing up here can be rather difficult. We’d planned for this however – having been acclimatizing up around two or three thousand meters above sea level for a week already.

By Chinese standards, the place is sparsely populated: just under six million folks live here over an area of 720,000 square kilometers. That’s a population density similar to that of the whole of Russia – the world’s largest country (including all its vast but sparsely-populated Siberian and Arctic regions).

Out of the six million inhabitants, nearly half of them live in the province’s capital, Xining (that X at the beginning – still perplexes me; will have to research one day why they (and who’s that?!) didn’t just use S or Z!), which is the fourth-smallest regional capital of China (the other three are: Macao, Lhasa (Tibet) and Hainan.

Between Lhasa and Xining there’s the world’s highest railroad (960km long; most of it 4000-5000m above sea level!) – the Qinghai-Tibet railway. And guess who’s been on it?!

We weren’t going to Lhasa this time; we got as far as Qinghai – around which the countryside scenery is oh-my-goodness! And that includes the lakes here – mostly salty ones:

There are mountains here too – but of a different kind altogether. Zero greenery – only rock and sand. Unique, otherworldly landscapes abound. And the location goes by the name of Yardang:

And assorted other anthropogenic and natural wonders:

That’s all for today folks. Detailed tales from the Chinese side, plus zillio-bytes of photos to come later. Just give me some time (and enjoy my ongoing Kamchatka-summer-2024 posts in the meantime:). Meanwhile – we continue our travels around China…

PS: previous China trips:

2015 – our first, test trip to China: total oh-my-gorgeous rapture;
2017 – our second China trip: natural wonderfulnesses plus the Terracotta Army;
2018 – China in October (or October in China:) becomes a tradition);
2019 – Tibet in the fall (or the fall in Tibet);
2020-2022 – ouch-oof (Chinese lockdown lasted much longer than in most countries);
2023 – our fifth trip;

2024 – No. 6!…

Yes – October for us means just one thing. But of course it does; why wouldn’t it?!