Xinghai County 兴海县

Setting and landscape

This is high country: the average altitude is 3,924 metres, and the county seat, Ziketan (子科滩镇), stands at 3,303 metres. The top is Suigen'ergang (虽根尔岗) in the Ela Mountains (鄂拉山) at 5,305 metres; the lowest point, 2,590 metres, is where the Yellow River leaves the county at Wuhetuo (吾合托) in Heka (河卡镇). The Yellow River runs 146.2 km through Xinghai, and three cascade hydropower stations on it, at Banduo (班多), Yangqu (羊曲) and Ciha (茨哈), are key national development projects. There are 19 hot spring points, with water at 40–58°C and up to 80°C. The frost-free season averages only 38 days.

History

In the Yongjia era (307–312) the Tuyuhun (吐谷浑), a Xianbei people who had moved west from Liaodong, set up their rule along the Daheba (大河坝) river. The Tang–Tibetan road later passed through: Princess Wencheng is said to have halted at Dafeichuan (大非川) near Daheba, and a Nalu (那录驿) post station stood on the Huangqing (黄清) river. In 1939 a Daheba office was carved out of Gonghe, and in 1945 it was raised to Xinghai County.

What to see

Saizong Mountain rises 30 km south-west of the county seat. Local tradition counts it among the three sacred Buddhist mountains of Amdo, and its name means "monkey fortress"; the mountain is of white rock. Saizong Monastery (赛宗寺) at its foot was founded in 1923 by Arig Tsang III (阿饶仓三世) of Rongwo Monastery (隆务寺) in Tongren (同仁), and grew into the largest Gelug monastery of the Hainan area, centred on a hundred-pillar assembly hall. Pilgrims circle the mountain past the "eighteen sights of Saizong" (赛宗十八景), including Guru Rinpoche's holy-water cave. The county also promotes the Heka grassland (河卡草原) and the Womengou waterfall (沃门沟瀑布).

Food and local products

The county has some 30 Chinese and Tibetan medicinal herbs, including snow lotus and rhubarb, and is one of Qinghai's main caterpillar fungus areas, harvesting about 10,000 kg a year. Local crafts include stone carving, Tibetan paper and Tibetan embroidery.

Highlights

• Saizong Monastery 赛宗寺: Founded 1923; the largest Gelug monastery of the Hainan area.
• Saizong Mountain 赛宗山: White-rock pilgrimage mountain with eighteen sacred sights; national AAA scenic area.
• Heka grassland 河卡草原: Promoted by the county on its main ecological tourism route.
• Womengou waterfall 沃门沟瀑布: Waterfall paired with Heka grassland and Saizong on the county's ecotourism route.