Golmud is a Mongolian word meaning "a place concentrated with rivers." It is situated in the central-south of the Qaidam Basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and occupies an area of 124,500 square kilometers, or half the size of Britain.

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." (Text by CRI Reporter Duan Lei  Photo Source: CRI)