Xining stands on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, at about 2,200 metres, and it is the capital of Qinghai Province, a city of more than seven hundred thousand people in a valley between high, dry hills. It is a meeting point of cultures: Han Chinese, Tibetan, Hui Muslim and Mongol communities all live here, and you can see it in the street food, the mosques and the monasteries. The Dongguan Great Mosque, one of the largest in northwest China, stands near the old centre, and the smell of grilled lamb and baking bread drifts from the Muslim quarter.
Twenty-five kilometres from the city lies the Ta'er Monastery, or Kumbum, one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, founded in the sixteenth century at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, the school's founder. It is a large complex of temples and prayer halls, with famous butter sculptures and a steady flow of pilgrims. It is well worth a visit for anyone who wants to understand the region, and it is a good warm-up for the altitude.
For riders, Xining is the beginning of a very serious road. The Qinghai-Tibet Highway, the G109, runs southwest across the plateau toward Golmud and eventually Lhasa, crossing passes of over 4,700 metres, and further on over 5,000 metres, with thin air, strong wind and sudden snow. Qinghai Lake, the largest in China, lies to the west and is a good first target, with a ride along its shore through rapeseed fields in July. The road is mostly paved, and the main dangers are altitude, cold and heavy trucks.
For foreign visitors, riding here is far from simple, because rules on vehicles, licences and permits are strict and change often, so check the current regulations well in advance. Fuel is plentiful in the city, and you should fill up whenever possible once on the highway, since the distances between stations grow. Take time to acclimatise, drink water and listen to your body, because altitude sickness can strike anyone. The sky is huge, the light is hard and bright, and the road ahead is one of the great journeys in Asia.