In Mongolian, Golmud means "a place abundant in rivers". Located to the south of the central Qaidam Basin, in the west of Qinghai Province, Golmud has developed into the third biggest city on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, after Xining and Lhasa. When including the Hoh Xil nature reserve, Golmud can boast as being "the city with the largest prefecture in the world." While downtown Golmud covers an area of 20 square kilometers, it is home to a multi-ethnic population of more than 200,000 Han, Mongolian and Hui people.
As a city, Golmud's history spans only 50 years. In the 1950s, General Mu Shengzhong was assigned to investigate the possibility of building a railway on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. As the troops crossed the desert, a call was heard asking when they would arrive at this place apparently so abundant in rivers. Mu planted the sign bearing the word "Golmud" into the ground, hailing that there it was to be. Before then, Golmud had been a place only visited by ancient Mongolian herdsmen. Indeed, it only became an official city on June 14, 1980. Today, with 90 percent of its population coming from outside, it is known as the city of immigrants.
Mt. Kunlun and Mt. Tangula traverse the entire region with a large number of snow-capped mountains, glaciers, rivers and lakes. Among the lakes, alkali flats, swamps, oasis and rolling dunes in the flat basin, Chaerhan Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the world, with an area of 5,658 square kilometers, giving Golmud its nickname "Salt Lake City."
