|
Golmud (Geermu) is a new industrial city on a plateau in the mid-west of
Qinghai province. Close to the borders of the Gobi Desert, the Kunlun
Mountains and the Cai Erhan Salt Lake, the city is a dusty and
desolate place. With a population of a mere 140,000 and at 3,000 meters above sea level,
the city is also, surprisingly, the largest metropolis in the world, encompassing an area
of nearly 49,000 square meters. The city"s size is largely a result of two related factors: Government relocation
policies and the Chadamu Basin. Not far away from town, the basin is an
area rich in mineral resources that is said to contain over 50 kinds of salts, non-ferrous
metals and large reserves of crude oil and natural gas. Many of the Han migrants who live
in Golmud, work out here, most concentrating on extracting oil and potassium rich products
(Potash Plants). For migratory foreigners there are very few reasons to be stopping in this city. Your
main reason will probably only be that you are on transit to or from either Xining, Dunhuang or Xinjiang & Tibet. The Golmud to
Lhasa Highway, with some extremely beautiful scenery, is the only official land
route into Tibet. |
|