Previously serving as a key stop on Tang-Tibet Ancient Road for tea-horse trade route.
青海美术馆
青海省博物馆
Nice place to learn about Qinghai's history and ethnic relationships. Covers the history of Silk Road on the Qinghai region. Some English text available. Exhibition nicely arranged from Room 1 to 5, although you need to pay a bit of attention of the flow inside the Hall. Audio guide available for ¥20.
青海省科学技术馆
青海藏文化博物院, 青海藏医药文化博物馆
This is two museums in one. The Tibetan Medicine Museum occupies the north building and the Qinghai Tibetan Culture Museum occupies the south building. Both museums have unique exhibits. The Tibetan Medicine Museum, for example, displays a large collection of medical thangkas while the Qinghai Tibetan Cultural Museum is home to the world's longest thangka, at 600m long, not to mention thousands of other Tibetan cultural artifacts. Both museums also have large gift shops and there is a Tibetan restaurant in between the two museums. Musical performances are sometimes performed at a small concert hall inside the Tibetan Cultural Museum.
青藏高原自然博物馆
As the name implies, this museum focuses on the natural history of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is said to be one of the largest natural history museums in China. You can learn about the origin of 3 big rivers from this region, as well as flora and fauna. Exhibition halls on two floors. Can be explored in 2h.
西宁市博物馆