Haidong
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Haidong ( zh, s=海东市, p=Hǎidōng shì) is a
prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...
of
Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
province in Western China. Its name literally means "east of the (Qinghai) Lake." On 8 February 2013 Haidong was upgraded from a prefecture ( zh, labels=no , s=海东地区) into a prefecture-level city. Haidong is the third most populous administrative division in Qinghai after
Xining Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...
and
Golmud Golmud, also known by various other romanizations, is a county-level city in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, China. It is now the second-largest city in Qinghai and the third largest in the Tibetan P ...
. Haidong was historically populated by the
Qiang people The Qiang people (Qiangic languages, Qiangic: ''Rrmea''; ) are an List of ethnic groups in China, ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approx ...
, although the area has been inhabited as early as 6000 years ago. In 121 BC the area was captured by Huo Qubing, defeating the
Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...
. In 399 AD the
Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...
founded the state of Nanliang, with its capital in Ledu District.


Geography

Haidong is the easternmost division of Qinghai province. It is bounded by
Xining Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...
, the provincial capital, to the West, the Datong River Valley to the north, Gansu to the east, and the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
to the south. Mountain ranges tower above the district of which the main valley is that of the Huang Shui (Tib. ''Tsong Chu''), a major tributary of the Yellow River. This valley stretches from west to east and makes up - together with the area around Xining, the landscape which is called Tsongkha ("Onion Valley") by Tibetans. It has a total area of .


Climate

Haidong has a cool semi-arid climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BSk'') characterised by warm to very warm summers, freezing but extremely dry winters, and large diurnal temperature ranges. Temperatures are warmer than anywhere else in Qinghai due to the relatively low altitude, although minima in winter still typically fall below . Precipitation is low and mostly confined to the summer months: less than of water equivalent typically falls between October and April inclusive, and less than between November and March.


Administrative divisions


Demographics

As of 2005, the total population of Haidong is approximately 1,480,000. It is the most densely populated area of
Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
, with almost a third of the province's population (its surface makes up only two percent of Qinghai).


References


Further reading

* A. Gruschke: ''The Cultural Monuments of Tibet’s Outer Provinces: Amdo - Volume 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo'', White Lotus Press, Bangkok 2001. * Tsering Shakya: ''The Dragon in the Land of Snows. A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947'', London 1999, {{authority control Prefecture-level divisions of Qinghai Amdo Cities in Qinghai