Qinghai in Brief
Qinghai, owing to its location in the heart of China, close to Mongolia and near the Silk Road, is ethnically mixed - Han, Hui, Kazakh, Mongolian, Tibetans, Tu and Salar inhabit the province. Most of Qinghai forms the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo. Yushu prefecture, in far southern Qinghai, is a part of the Kham region of Tibet. Outside the two main cities - Golmud and Xining -- population centers are tiny villages and towns, scattered along the desolate Tibetan Plateau.