Xining Transportation
It may seem far, but Xining makes itself accessible by giving tourists a lot of transport options:
Airport
Xining has its own airport called the Xining Caojiabago Airport. It has an airport code of XNN. It is more than 15 miles away from the city center. Although it pales in comparison with the grand airports of China’s major cities, it is not shabby at all. Opened in 1991, it has an excellent runway that stretches to over 2,500 meters, which means it can actually handle bigger-sized aircraft. The airport also has special sections for the VIPs, as well as small restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops. You can also find a health care facility inside.
Some of the airlines that can land in the airport are Air China, China Express Airline, Hainan Airlines, and Okay Airways, to name a few. Most of them come from the cities of Guangzhou, Beijing, Chengdu, Hefei, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Xian, and Nanjing. There are also airlines that are from Tibet such as Tibet Airlines. They depart from Lhasa.
There are times when you need to arrive at another airport before you can reach Xining. Fortunately there are a also a number of nearby airports. These include Dalian Airport and Golmud Airport. Xining used to be a part of Golmud until it was officially considered a part of the Qinghai Province as its capital. Another close airport is Xianyang Airport.
Plenty of tickets for Xining flights are now available online. Since this is a domestic airport, though, international passengers need to have connecting flights or consider other modes of transport such as buses or trains to Xining. On the other hand, if you need to buy some tickets, you can count on travel agencies, hotels, and restaurants.
Buses
Unlike other cities in the country, there’s no subway or metro in Xining. This means that the most reliable mode of transport in the city, aside from taxis, is the buses. Fortunately there are plenty of them, and they are truly dependable.
In the city, you’ll find two kinds of buses. Some of them are meant for the suburbs while the others cover the districts and other more populous areas of Xining. The cost of transport is pretty cheap. It starts at 0.5 RMB for the first six stops, with an addition of 1 RMB for farther destinations. The same buses can also bring you to most of the renowned attractions in the city, including Qinghai Lake and Bird Island. The most popular bus route number or line is 1. The buses are available as early as 6:00 a.m., and the most demanded ones can be around until 10:30 in the evening. Others retire at around 8:30 p.m. This means only one thing: night life is still very young in Xining. A lot of these buses are self service, so they don’t have any conductor who can get your fare. Instead, you need to pay for the exact amount, or you won’t get any change.
You can also ride the bus from the airport. That should save you a lot of money since the fare is just around 21 RMB. It is located on the east side of the airport. If you need to fly from Xining, you can go to Super Leisure Hotel as the bus passes through its entrance, traveling on a westerly direction. Just make sure that you can call the bus ahead or inquire about the estimated time of arrivals and departures since they travel at irregular intervals.
There are also long-distance buses available. While the city buses travel within districts, the long-distance ones cover the counties as well as the nearby cities and provinces such as Xian, Liujiaxia, and Dunhuang. There are also buses that can take you to Lhasa in Tibet and Golmud. So far, there’s no direct bus from other large cities such as Chengdu, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. Most of these buses are found very close to Xining’s railway station. They depart at different times. For example, Tongren buses leave every hour while those bound to Lanzhou travel every half hour. The good thing is the intervals are somewhat consistent. You can also choose between hard or soft sleeper buses.
Trains
If you cannot get into Xining through the long-distance bus, you can try the train station. The Xining Railway Station is currently being managed by the Ministry of Railways of China, and it has two lines: Qinghai-Tibet and Lanzhou-Qinghai. Although the station isn’t very huge, it is equipped with three platforms.
If you’re coming from Lanzhou, you will officially arrive at Xining West. The total distance is around 225 kilometers. The departure times and the duration of the travel, however, can greatly vary, depending on what train you’re riding. For example, if you’re taking the K1009 train, you’ll leave Lanzhou at 4:39 a.m. and arrive at Xining West at 7:38 a.m.—almost 3 hours of train ride. The cost, on the other hand, also varies. The regular seat fare is 36 RMB, but the hard sleeper can be up to 73 RMB while soft sleeper is more expensive at 106 RMB. One of the shortest train rides from Lanzhou is T207, which leaves at 7:21 a.m. and arrives at Xining West at 9:36 p.m. The seat fare is between 36 and 57 RMB.
You can also travel from Xining to Lhasa via train. The cost is roughly 800 yuan for the best sleeper, followed by 500 yuan. If you want to go cheap, you can go for the soft sleeper, which costs only 250 yuan. Two trains are available from Xining to Lhasa: K9811 and K9801. The duration can be very long, and depending on what time you leave, you may arrive at your destination on the next day. Thus, some trains are not able to depart from Xining on a daily basis.
There’s also a train from Golmud, the K9804, which leaves at 9:50 p.m. and arrives at Xining West on the following day, at 7:02 in the morning. If you’re coming from Shanghai, there’s K375 or K378, which departs at 10:15 p.m. and arrives in Xining West at 5:45 a.m. There are also trains from Chengdu or Xian to Xining. For those from Beijing, they can choose among T175, T151, and T27. The fastest among the three is T27, which has duration of less than 20 hours. It leaves Beijing West at 8:00 p.m. and arrives in Xining West at 3:50 p.m. Seat fare is CNY 206.
You can actually purchase the tickets ahead. Normally you have 11 days to do so except when it’s peak or the holiday season. The train station has several counters, but some of them provide train tickets to Tibet only.
Taxis
If you’re looking for convenience, you can ride a taxi. This is also an ideal transport for areas not regularly served by buses such as the Sun and Moon Mountain. Xining has around 5,000 of them from various operators. They are often distinguished by their colors. For example, Xiali, an old operator, is known for their red taxis.
A trip can cost 6 RMB as the base fare, while every kilometer adds 1.3 RMB. There’s a special rate when you hail a taxicab from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Instead of 1.3 RMB, it becomes 1.5 RMB.
Transport
You can get into Xining through its own airport, as well as train from Lhasa, Beijing, and Xian. There are also long-distance buses from Yushu, Zhangye, and Jiuquan. Around the city center, the most convenient way to travel is through buses, which can take you to almost anywhere, even to its attractions.