Golmud

Golmud is a county-level city in Qinghai Province, China, bordering Xinjiang to the northwest and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the southwest. Administrated by Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, it is the third largest city in Qinghai and the third largest in the Tibetan Plateau. The name of the city derives from Mongolian, and its literal meaning in the local Western Mongolian is "Rivers". Golmud is located in the central-south part of the Qaidam Basin with an elevation of 2,809 metres. Around the city there are more than 20 salt lakes of various sizes.

Golmud is the second largest city in Qinghai Province and it has been known by travellers because of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Actually,Golmud is the starting place of the scenic train trip to Tibet. If time allows, you could spend some time to Chaerhan Salt Lake near the city. Chaerhan Salt Lake is located 60 kilometers away from the north Golmud city.It is not the largest salt lake in China. At the same time, it might also be one of the most famous interior salt lakes in the world.