The Space Shuttle photograph, looking north across the northern Tibetan Plateau, shows the western end of the Tsaidam Basin, ringed by mountains. Golmud is located in the upper right of this image, to the east of the large oval-shaped playa. The rugged Kunlun Shan, which run diagonally across the image, mark the northern margin of the plateau.
We arrive in Golmud in the early evening and explore town the following day. Golmud has a population of about 120,000 and is the second largest city in Qinghai. The principal industry is potash processing, although the oil industry is growing in importance. Several oil fields with substantial oil reserves are located in the extreme western end of the Tsaidam Basin near Gas Hu (Gasikule Lake) about 450 kilometers west of Golmud.
The empty expanses of the Tsaidam Basin also host
three Chinese nuclear missile bases, which presumably target
their estimated 90 warheads on India and Russia. Two of the bases
are north of Golmud, at Xaio Qaidam and Da Qaidam; the third is at Delingha,
northeast of Toson Hu lake. The presence of these horrific
weapons in this part of Amdo, and the exploitation of oil
reserves, is source of much ill will between the Tibetan
government-in-exile and the Chinese. A deep respect for the
environment has long been a policy of the Tibetan government. In
1642, the Fifth Dalai Lama issued a "Decree for the Protection of
Animals and the Environment" and similar decrees have been issued
annually since then.
Golmud means "a place concentrated with rivers" in
Mongolian. North of the city is the "salt bridge", built across
the playa of Qarhana Saline Lake. The road is a dreadful
bucking-bronco ride because it lacks a firm foundation being
built on salt. The bridge is not a conventional bridge, but a
causeway across a salt lake. We are told that potholes are filled
by simply pouring in the hypersaline lake water.
Golmud has a wonderful open market, where one can purchase
almost anything. The venders are seated behind long tables on
rickety folding chairs. The tables support great stainless-steel
basins innumerable multicolored plastic basins, and wicker cages
holding chickens. Some, filled with water, hold live fish and
eels, who poke their heads out of the water to scan their
surroundings. Unidentifiable shreds of pale meat, intestines, and
other internal organs fill other tubs. A collection of puffy
stomachs, inflated by the gases of decomposition, wobbles and
billows in the hot sun. Flies settle on bloody joints of pork
that hang from hooks or lie on dirty metal tables. Lacking
refrigeration, people seem prefer to purchase live food whenever
possible. One shopper holds the bound feet of two chickens, which
cluck and vigorously attempt to raise their heads as if to
protest their fate.
