Discover Qaidam Basin

Qaidam Basin offers one of China’s most surreal highland desert travel experiences, combining salt lakes, barren mountains, yardang landforms, open highways, mineral landscapes, mirror-like water, and a sense of vast emptiness. Located in Qinghai on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, it is especially attractive for road trips and landscape photography.

A visit can include salt lakes, desert highways, yardang landscapes, dramatic viewpoints, and highland road-trip routes. The best time to visit is June to September, when road conditions and weather are generally more suitable for travel. Qaidam Basin works well with Qinghai Lake, Chaka Salt Lake, Dunhuang, Xining, Mangya, Dachaidan, and broader northwest China routes.