Haidong

Haidong is a prefecture-level city of Qinghai province in Western China. Its name literally means "east of the Lake." Haidong is the second largest city in Qinghai after Xining. Haidong Prefecture is situated in northeastern Qinghai Province, neighboring Gansu Province in the east. The capital city of the province, Xining, is bordered by Haidong in the west. According to archeological discoveries, this area was proved to be inhabited by human settlers. Before the Qin Dynasty (221-206), nomads of the Qiang lived here. In the early Western Han Dynasty (206-24), the troop of the court defeated the Huns in the west of the Yellow River, and a fortress was established in the city to protect against the invasion of nomad groups.

Mengda National Nature Reserve, at in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, is the most representative scenic area in Haidong area and the Heavenly Lake is its core scenic spot. Stone peaks, gifted by nature, seem to have sprung from the ground into many different shapes. Gautama Temple, located 25 km. south of Ledu County, is a building complex first constructed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It is a famous Tibetan Buddhist temple in Qinhai Province, but it bears more features of the Han Buddhis