Xining

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

• Xining Caojiabao AirportHas flights to Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Golmud, Guangzhou, Lhasa, Shanghai, Shenyang, Urumqi, Xi'an, Taipei, Seoul, and Tokyo. Shenzhen Airlines fly into Xining from Hong Kong.

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 train

was renovated and is now fully operational with excellent connections to many destinations throughout Northwest China and the entire country, being connected to both the high=speed and conventional rail network. The station marks the start of the Qinghai–Tibet railway. It is large, clean, and well connected via the city's public bus system and is just a couple 100 meters away from one of the city's main long-distance bus stations (also brand new). Arrive well in advance when buying or picking up tickets because the lines are often very long. During peak travel seasons tickets get sold out very quickly so plan ahead!
Public bus routes: 1路; 5路; 7路; 9路; 11路; 16路; 20路; 27路; 28路; 31路; 40路; 103路; 104路; 107路

By bus

LongDistance Bus Station is on Jianguo Road, on the other side of the river in view of the train station.
On March 2016, the bus 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 and the PSB is not issuing the Alien Travel Permit. Alternatively, you can go to Golmud and try to get the permission there, or just take a bus directly from Golmud to Ruoqiang.

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.

• North Mountain TempleTaoist Temple in the hills. A lot of it is closed for safety reasons. This includes the walkways between man-made caves in the mountain. There is a pagoda above, on the hill. From here there is a great view over the city.

• Dongguan Mosque

  address: Dongguan Street (东关大街; Dōngguāndàjiē)

• Northern Ch'An MonasterySee the Taoist Tulou (Rammed-earth Pavilion)

• Southern Ch'An Monastery

• Dongguan Monastery

• Datong Laoye Mountain Forest Zone

• Qinghai Provincial MuseumNice place for those curious about Qinghai's history and ethnic relationships.

• B_cool

  Tibetan Medicine Museum

  address: No.36 Jing'er Road, Chengbei District
  Includes world's longest thangka, at 600m long.

Handmade Tibetan Handicrafts can be bought at the AmdoCafe (see Drink section)

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.

• Mojia Market

  address: Mojia Lu
  The front end of the market has many small snack stands selling spicy ground meat birds egg pizza-style bing (¥3), spicier Liangpi noodle (¥4.5) and mouth cooling bowl-set yoghurt with a creaming texture and slightly sour/citrus flavour (¥3). Further into the market mounds of dried fruit and nuts from the region can be bought by weight.

Western food

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

• KFC

  phone: +86 971-8227987
  address: Near the Wangfujing Shopping Mall, Xi Dajie
  There are three KFCs in the city, but this is by far the most centrally located.

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.

• AmdoCafe 安多咖啡

  phone: +86 18997231050
  address: Lenghulu 2, JiesenHuaYuan South Gate 冷湖路2号杰森花园西南门
  This coffee shop, which also offers AmdoCraft Tibetan Handicraft products, provides a relaxed, quiet atmosphere in which to sip and sample real, fresh-brewed coffee, or sup on steaming pastries, cakes, and cookies. The coffee is some of the most inexpensive real coffee in the area. Free Wi-fi.

• Cafe Java

  phone: +86 971-6314012
  address: 47 Haiyan Road (海晏路47号9-1号铺)
  Expat couple from the UK opened this cafe in 2009. Excellent coffee and home-made food at a great price. Favourite dishes include Mexican wraps, chilli, bagels of all kinds, pancakes & waffles with sweet or savoury toppings. Also a great place to meet other foreign residents or expats in Xining. Free Wi-Fi.

• Green House Cafe

  phone: +86 971-8202710
  address: Xiadu Avenue, Near Yangshan Villas
  Great little cafe opened up by an American expat in Xining. Relaxed atmosphere, good Wi-Fi, and, some say, the best coffee in the city. They have deserts and sandwiches as well.

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.

• Qilin Bay Bar Strip

  address: Intersection of Kunlun West and Huanghe Road
  A complex of bars by the riverside, built around an atrium. You can't see them from the road, but just below the bridge you will see a number of cars parked, with steps down into the park. About a half dozen or so small bars.

• Culture Street Bar Strip

  address: Culture Street (Wenhua Jie)
  A large complex with about two dozen bars over three different floors with an open center atrium. You can choose between more relaxed lounge bars, live music venues, or one or two bars that have dance floors on the ground floor.

Night clubs

• Soho

  phone: +86 971-8252991
  address: 116 Nanguan Street
  Soho is Xining's most popular nightclub, usually busy past 2AM most nights. Lots of tables and a bar, but there is no dancing. Music is mostly live. Soho is a nightclub franchise in China, but this one apparently is an "unofficial club."

• No. 88 Bar

  address: 7-1 Road, Across from the TCM Hospital
  Similar to Soho bar, but a larger dance floor. Crowded on the weekends, but a bigger crowd at Soho.

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.

• Lete Youth Hostel

  phone: +86 971 8202080
  address: 16th Floor, 5# Building, International Village Apartment
  In 2011, the hostel changed management and underwent many new renovations to the rooms and bar area. Its cozy environment sits high on the 16th floor with beautiful views of the city and mountainous backdrop. It's within walking distance to many downtown shopping areas. The staff speaks English. There is a travel company upstairs that will organise trips in the local province and into the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

• Qinghai Shuili Hotel

  address: 18-8 Kunlun Road, Chengxi District (城西区昆仑路18-8号; Chéngxīqū Kūnlúnlù

• Home Inn (Xining Central Square)

  address: Near west building of Ximen Gym, Chengzhong District (城中区西门体育馆西附楼; Chéngzhōngqū Xīméntǐyùguǎnxīfùlóu)

Mid-range

• Jianyin Hotel

  phone: +86 971 8261561
  address: 55 West Street

• Xining Tower

  phone: +86 971 8419991
  address: 61 Jianguo Road

• Qing Hai Moslem Mansion

  phone: +86 971 8138011
  address: 65 Qiyi Street
  Good hotel, near the railway station, heated in winter. Good restaurant, good American breakfast.

Splurge

• Yinlong Hotel

  phone: +86 971 6166666
  address: 38 Huanghe Road, Chengxi District (城西区黄河路38号; Chéngxīqū Huánghélù)
  Five star hotel with rooms with free internet. Business center, beauty salon, ticket office, disco, billiards, fitness, massage and sauna available. Chinese and Western restaurants, coffee shop, bar and room service.

• Qinghai Hotel

  phone: +86 971-6148999
  address: No.158 Huanghe Road
  Rooms are spacious and clean. Good facilities and restaurants. A cheaper alternative to the Yinlong Hotel.

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 tibetan village, beyond the southern mountains from the west bus stop.

Note that China Rail has completely reformed it's ticking 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 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.