Haidong

Haidong is a prefecture-level city of Qinghai province in Western China. Its name literally means "east of the Lake." On 8 February 2013 Haidong was upgraded from a prefecture into a prefecture-level city. Haidong is the third most populous administrative division in Qinghai after Xining and Golmud.
Haidong was historically populated by the Qiang people, 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. In 399 AD the Xianbei 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, the provincial capital, to the West, the Datong River Valley to the north, Gansu to the east, and the Yellow River to the south. Mountain ranges tower above the district of which the main valley is that of the Huang Shui, 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 by Tibetans. It has a total area of.

Climate

Haidong has a cool semi-arid climate 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, with almost a third of the province's population.