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Qinghai

Qinghai · Map

At Ta’er Monastery, butter becomes a temporary sculpture. In the Hehuang valleys, painted clay, embroidery and temple murals hold other kinds of time. Northward, Qinghai Lake is crossed by fish and birds; westward, salt works and telescopes bring two different kinds of work to the Qaidam Basin. Farther south, painters, carvers, herders and river patrols bring the headwaters into view through particular places and tasks. Follow the material, the water or the work: each route opens another Qinghai.

Qinghai
Xining Haidong Haibei Huangnan Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Golog Yushu Haixi

Selected waterways · simplified geography

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From the journal

Building a Measuring Station on Saishiteng Mountain

Field researchers carried instruments through a high, roadless landscape to test whether the Lenghu site could support an observatory.

1 min readHaixi
Saishiteng measurement platform: about 4,200 m elevation, difficult access and three years of atmospheric observations. Original editorial diagram; illustrative, not a photograph or measured site plan.
Saishiteng measurement platform: about 4,200 m elevation, difficult access and three years of atmospheric observations. Original editorial diagram; illustrative, not a photograph or measured site plan.

A platform above the desert

After narrowing the search to Saishiteng Mountain, the National Astronomical Observatories team set up monitoring equipment to test its initial judgment. The site stood about 4,200 metres above sea level. The route was steep and lacked road access; researchers carried smaller instruments and arranged helicopter transport for larger equipment. A climb took several hours, so each trip required the team to bring the tools and replacement parts it might need.

The work behind a measurement

The team’s platform collected data on atmospheric conditions over three years. Researchers maintained the instruments, then sent observations to Beijing for closer analysis. A small shelter gave both people and equipment some protection from wind and snow. This sequence—select a point, build a measurement station, keep it working and analyze repeated readings—turned a mountain site into a scientific case for an observatory. The project was built first as a way to measure the sky.

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  1. Saishiteng measurement platform: about 4,200 m elevation, difficult access and three years of atmospheric observations. Original editorial diagram; illustrative, not a photograph or measured site plan.© 2026 IFreeing · Rights information Photo source ↗ Proportionally resized and converted to WebP without cropping. No objects were added, removed or reconstructed.