Xining sits at 2,275 metres. The air is noticeably thinner (packets of goods filled at sea level puff up interestingly, and the deodorant ball popped right out of its socket when Nigel first opened it up here).

The city is the gateway to Qinghai Province, which is (kind of) the old Amdo, one of the three traditional Tibetan regions. And, as the gathering point for all the rail services heading for Lhasa, it's something of a gateway to the Tibet Autonomous Region too.

Decried by some as "extremely ugly", Xining turned out to have plenty of pleasing characteristics in our view, and we spent a very satisfying week here.

(And, in passing, there's a general riff about "horrible" Chinese cities that I don't quite understand. OK, I get that more could be done to preserve heritage, and emphasize variety in construction. But at the end of the day, in any modern Chinese city of any size, you can be pretty sure to find walkable pavements, a plethora of parks, a huge range of tasty food at affordable prices, usable public transport, and a prevailing feeling of safety. That combo is not to be sneezed at.)

Xining has all the above qualities, and much more.

Admittedly, the climate is trying. At this time of year it's way too dry for comfort (my entire body surface ended up pleading for moisturizer). The massive contrast in temperatures (down to freezing or below in the early morning, and as high as the mid-20s in the afternoon) reminded me of Melbourne, and necessitated the lugging round of a bag in which to deposit discarded clothing. And for a couple of days we seemed to be subject to a minor dust storm, which even the regularly circulating road-sprayers failed to entirely overcome.

Despite these minus points, there's a lot to do; a real effort is being made to create green areas; the blossom is gorgeous right now; the surrounding mountains are super-impressive; and it's obviously gearing up for the Belt and Road Initiative (one only hopes not too quickly...).







Highlights:

1. The Sebel

Odd to start with a hotel, I know. But this one is a winner. It is located out in a new (not quite finished) bit of Xining. It's adjacent to several malls (one of which looks like it was created by the designers of the Jogja City Mall), and has a wide choice of smaller shops and restaurants not far away. Local buses from the stop right outside will take you to the railway station or the Nan Chan temple. Taxis are readily available, and cheap. And for a very reasonable sum (admittedly, it's the low season), we got a fantastically spacious and well-equipped bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchenette complex, plus a truly amazing breakfast buffet.







2. Museums

The Qinghai Provincial Museum and the Qinghai Art Museum are both free, whereas you have to pay to enter the Tibetan Medicine and Culture Museum. All are treasure troves of tangkas, mandalas, carpets, embroidery, and the like, bearing eloquent testimony to the richness of the culture here.

























3. Temples

The Nan Chan Si is just beautiful, full of colour and gorgeous detail. You can't access the caves and hanging pagodas of the Bei Chan Si at the moment, but it's still worth a visit for the unusual figures in the side temple, and for the hike up the hill behind.























In a league of its own is Kumbum Monastery, 20 km or so outside of town. There's a minefield of misleading information as to how you get there. What you need is the No. 909 from the local bus station next to the railway station (or from the stop by the Nan Chan Si). It takes its time, but the service is frequent.















4. Walking

I guess people get bored with this old chestnut of a category, but honestly, we love city walking. There's always something interesting to see.

The city's walkways and parks (including one with some remains of the city walls) offer traffic-free movement, the usual array of tai chi practitioners and saxophonists, and some enthusiastic kite-flyers.











5. Food and kindness

The Muslim quarter, with its abundance of mosques and specialist shops and eateries, is a good place to find roast lamb and mian pian (square noodles in a spicy sauce). The Mazhong Snack Centre on Mojia Jie provided wonderful yoghurt, and tasty stuffed steamed buns (and some helpful people took us in hand, and showed us how to prepare a chilli and vinegar mix for dipping these in). Xining also seems to be a great place to try the multiple varieties of Chinese flat bread, all of which seem to be really delicious (we tried circles of herbed bread wrapped around wholemeal bread, and a sweeter bread with a sugar and sesame glaze, and I was fascinated by the "rope bread", sold per skein). Good, always, of course, is the food you eat before a walk (huge doughnuts bought from an old lady at the start of the road up to Kumbum, or vegetable stuffed buns at the bottom of Bei Shan, or bananas gifted by the temple keeper). And quite outstanding as a heart-warming memory is the delicious beef noodle soup that the lady wouldn't let us pay for, because I "spoke such good Chinese". I really don't, and even if I did, I woudn't deserve free noodle soup. But this wonderfully kind person fed my body and spirit that day. I promise that her encouragement will spur me on to improve...