The Qaidam basin in Qinghai has quantities of natural gas, and the Tarim basin holds both oil and gas.

ECONOMIST: Go west, young Han

An earthquake in April that struck a main producing area in Qinghai province is part of the reason, traders say.

ECONOMIST: Rising prices in even the most exotic products

In Gansu and Qinghai Provinces and throughout north-central China, people of nine different ethnic groups share a music tradition known as Hua er.

UNESCO: Culture

He was born in 1935 in modern-day Qinghai, China.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

In the first 11 months of 2012, the 80 major steel makers posted a loss of 1.97 billion yuan, said Wang Qinghai, chairman of the association, during a meeting this weekend.

FORBES: Connect

The quake in the mountainous region had flattened homes -- many of which were made with wood and earth -- and other buildings in Jiegu and elsewhere in Yushu prefecture, a Tibetan region of Qinghai.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Gangs of workers are rebuilding the Beijing-to-Lhasa road that crosses the Qinghai and Tibetan plateaus: a government minister says China will build 150, 000km (about 94, 000 miles) of new highways in western China over the next decade.

ECONOMIST: Go west, young Han