Qinghai: Menyuan & Qinghai Lake, July 2025

By Beatrice Wong
August 7, 2025
10:09 pm
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I fell in love with the vast beautiful landscapes of Tibet and Xinjiang, hence I decided I must also make a trip to Qinghai. Named after the largest inland salt lake in China, Qinghai Lake, Qinghai 青海 is an inland province in Northwestern China bordering Xinjiang to the northwest, Tibet to the southwest, Gansu to the northeast, and Sichuan to the southest. It occupies a large portion of the Tibetan Plateau with most of the province lying between 3,000 to 5,000 meters above sea level. Once part of the ancient Silk Road, there are countless unspoilt spectacular natural landscapes here especially the high altitude salt lakes, snow-capped mountains, Gobi landscapes, and elegant danxia landforms. Qinghai, previously an unconventional destination, has gained in popularity and July also coincides with the rapeseed blooming season where the golden flowers cover Menyuan and the shores of Qinghai Lake making it a very busy time. All in all, Qinghai exceeded my expectations! The otherworldly scenery often made me wonder if I’m on another planet. From the capital, Xining, I embarked on my Qinghai photo tour with the first stop being Menyuan rapeseed flower sea 门源油菜花海. Menyuan is the main oil-producing area in Qinghai Province. Every July, the rapeseed flowers enter their full blooming period creating a beautiful yellow carpet with the Qilian Mountains 祁蓮山 in the back. Rapeseed flowers can be found in many places in China, but Menyuan is famous because of its scale where the rapeseed flower fields stretch for hundreds of kilometers like a golden sea. From mid to the end of July, Menyuan’s rapeseed flowers are in their peak bloom and that is when I timed my visit.

Qilian Huayue Hotel 祁连华悦饭店

Menyuan rapeseed flower sea 门源油菜花海

Menyuan rapeseed flower sea 门源油菜花海

Menyuan rapeseed flower sea 门源油菜花海

Menyuan rapeseed flower sea 门源油菜花海

At 3200 meters above sea level, Qinghai Lake, also known as Koko Nor, is the largest lake in China, equivalent to 3 Greater Londons! It is an alkaline salt lake and is lauded as the most beautiful lake in China. Qinghai Lake is a sacred lake for Tibetan Buddhists and is the only one located outside of Tibet. According to Tibetan folk custom, pilgrims should walk around the lake in the Year of the Goat, around the mountains in the Year of the Horse, and circle the forest in the Year of the Monkey. Every summer, the shores of the lake turn golden as the hectares of rapeseed flowers bloom. Many herdsman live by the lake with their families and their herds of cattle and sheep. On the southern shore of Qinghai Lake is the best developed Erlangjian Scenic Area 二郎剑, the essence of the lake, with restaurants, hotels, and boat tour services. Erlangjian got its name because of its shape like a long narrow sword cutting into Qinghai Lake. There is a 2-hour bike trail here from Jiayi Temple to Erlangjian. Located in the southwest corner of the lake is Hemahe Town which is an important stop on the road to Chaka Salt Lake and is a popular place to photograph the sunrise. Along the northeast shore of QInghai Lake is Sand Island, where the desert is slowy growing larger and the views of the endless stretches of sand dunes behind the turquoise waters are quite spectacular. There is an area called Fairy Bay in the north and legend has it that the Queen of the West fell in love with the King of the Central Plains and held feasts for the King in Qinghai Lake surrounded by fairies singing and dancing for them.