Peter Schindler's China Blog
On the Road Encounters
with People in China

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Qinghai is a huge but thinly populated province dominated by a plateau more than 10,000 feet above sea level. The capital Xining is a Han Chinese outpost and the Han Chinese constitute 58% of the province's total population of 4.9 million. Minority groups include Tibetans, Hui, Mongolians, Du, and Salar. Qinghai contains several labor reform camps and many former prisoners still reside in the province, having been unable to procure residence permits elsewhere in China. Grasslands cover 96% of the land and animals outnumber people by five to one. Yak wool and fine-grade sheep wool are major products. Qinghai is rich in minerals, especially in borax, aluminum potassium, lithium, asbestos, boron, iodine, sulfur, lead and limestone. Beekeeping is another important industry.