Qinghai-Tibet Railway – Golmud

Golmud is located at Southern Qinghai Province. It borders on Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the west and connects Tibet Autonomous Region in the south. With an altitude of 2800 meters, Golmud covers an area of 76663 square kilometers. Golmud is a city developed from the construction of Qinghai-Tibet Highway and it is widely known after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was opened to traffic.

Golmud is a newly developed industrial city in western Qinghai Province. It is about 710 kilometers from Xining, the start point of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Located at the junction of Qinghai-Tibet Highway, Qinghai-Xinjiang Highway and Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Golmud is an important transportation hub in western Qinghai Province. It also acts as a vital transfer station and collection & distribution center in the transportation network between Tibet and inland China.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway – Topography of Golmud

Golmud is located in the central part of Eurasia Continent. It has complicated topography. The terrain here is not only higher in the south and lower in the north, but also leans from the west to the east. Both the magnificent Kunlun Mountain and Tanggula Mountain stretch across Golmud. The continuous snow-capped mountains, amazing glaciers and pagodas, and the scattered lakes in Golmud compose an impressive picture. The main peak of Tanggula Mountain – Gera-Dandong Peak enjoys an altitude of 6549 meters. Gera-Dandong Peak is also noted as the source of Yangtze River and Lantsang River.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway – Climate of Golmud

Golmud enjoys a continental plateau climate characterized by dry and windy. The winter in Golmud is long and cold while the summer in Golmud is short and cool. It rains rarely in Golmud, the average annual precipitation here is only about 41.5 millimeters while the annual evaporation capacity is more than 3000 millimeters. Golmud is of rich solar energy for its long sunshine radiation. The annual sunshine duration in Golmud reaches 3358 hours according to statistics. It should be noted that the Tanggula Town in Golmud enjoys a pretty cold climate with an annual average temperature of -4.2 Celsius. There are only two seasons in the town – the winter and summer.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway – Mineral Resources in Golmud

The basin area in Golmud has a large resource reserve of salt. The world famous Qarhan Salt Lake is quite noted for its high quality salt. The Qarhan Lake in Golmud is the largest salt lake above the sea level. It has also been a must-visit site for tourist making a Tibet tour and taking a stop at Golmud. The reserves and quality of the potassium, magnesium, lithium, boron, bromine, iodine, rubidium and some other mineral resources in Golmud rank first in China. Relevant salilization industry and petrochemical engineering industry were developed on the base of the of the rich salt lake, petroleum and natural gas reserves in Qaidam Basin.

Tanggula Mountain Area is the natural reserve for the wild animals in Qinghai Province. Various rare animals were living in this natural reserve, including the wild yak, white-lipped deer, wild Tibetan kiangs, snow leopards, snow cocks, black-necked cranes and so on.