Xunhua charm
WenDu Temple
This is a provincial level historical heritage site. It is located in the LaDai village of WenDu township. It has convenient transportation only 18 kilometers from the county seat, and 165 kilometers from Xining. This is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Xunhua. The architecture is very grand. It was first built in the Yuan dynasty around the year 1282. The entire temple was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and reopened again in 1980 with several different halls and many rooms. The center hall contains a bronze statue of the Master Panchan sitting on top of a lotus. On both sides of the statue are exquisite murals. Most of these statues and murals were crafted by hand by local artisans. The main religious are the New Year celebration, the spring Buddhist festival in February, April fasting, the summer Buddhist festival also in April, the commemoration of the death of TsongKhaPa from October 25 to November 1, and the giving of foodstuffs in December.
Xunhua Jiezi Mosque
The Jiezi Mosque is also a key Qinghai historical preserved heritage site. It is located right in the village on the street, easily accessible, only five kilometers from the county seat and 140 kilometers from Xining. It is a wonderful tourist site where you can experience the folk customs and the religious practices of the Salar Muslims. It is the 2nd largest mosque in Qinghai, built in the early Ming dynasty. The building itself has been expanded three times and the prayer hall is over 1,000 square meters and can accommodate more than 1,500 worshipers. It was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and rebuilt thanks to government grants in 1982 as well as local fundraising along the style of the Kashi mosque in Xinjiang. The new mosque is a brick structure and covers an area of 4,050 square meters. Inside there are four main columns and the hall is 23 meters high from the ground to the minaret towers. It is built in a distinct Arabic style. Opposite the prayer hall are the graves of Galarmang and Akhermang, the Salar forefathers. The mosque also holds one of the oldest handwritten copies of the Koran known to be in existence.
MengDa Heavenly Lake
This is a national level nature reserve. It is located in eastern Xunhua County in Mengda township. This place is in the eastern part of XiQingShan, south of the Yellow River JiShi Valley. It is 27 kilometers from the Xunhua County seat and 126 kilometers from Xining. These mountains belong to the DangRui/WuTai mountain range. It is in the transition zone between the northeast corner of the QingZang Tibetan Plateau and the HuangTu Loess Plateau. These mountains run north to south. The total area is 17290 hectares. The elevation is between 1780 and 3356 meters. This is a primitive nature reserve with dense forest, many varieties of plant life, and beautiful scenery. It is considered to be the “XiShuangBanNa” of the QingZang Tibetan Plateau. It is a scenic tourist area as well as a nature reserve. Its unique geographical conditions, comparatively warm and wet weather, and good soil conditions make this reserve area capable of supporting many different kinds of plant life. Based on preliminary investigations in 1982, there are 90 advanced plant species in this area which make up 80% of the provincial total, 296 sub-species which make up 65% of the provincial total, and 517 varieties which make up 20% of the provincial total. There are 77 species and 326 varieties of medical plants, of which 44 species and 81 varieties have already been collected in the National Pharmacopoeia. In this area the topography is complex, with dense forest, remote geographical features, and sparsely populated wilderness. All these conditions are very good for the sustaining of much natural wildlife. There are 3 species, 5 sub-species, and 7 varieties of animals. There are 8 species, 19 sub-species, and 68 varieties of birds.
Xunhua Camel Spring
The Camel Spring is located close to the Jiezi Village Mosque, 4 kilometers west of Jishi Township in Xunhua Autonomous County. Even though it is not a large spring, it is considered to be the holiest place of the Salar people. It is said to be the original home of the Salar people. This spring has a close relation to the history of the Salar people based on folk legend. The ancestors of the Salar people originally lived in a small tribe found in the Central Asian region of Samarkand, with two brothers as the leaders. Their names were Galarmang and Akherman, and they were held in high esteem among the people. Later on, because of local leaders’ jealousy, they were forced to leave their homeland and be wanderers. They took 18 of their tribesman, along with a white camel that carried their homeland’s water and earth, and a copy of the Koran to seek for a new promised land in the east. Along the way they passed over the Tianshan Mountains, Jiayuguan, and the Yellow River, arriving at the foot of JiShi Mountain. Unfortunately, their white camel went missing, but the next day they found a very clean spring along a sandy slope, next to which their white camel had turned to stone. So they stayed in this place and named it Camel Spring. The Camel Spring has always been considered a holy spring to the Salar people and holds an important place in Salar culture. In the past few years local people have constructed an enclosed garden to protect the Camel Spring, in which they have planted many pine and fruit trees and flowers. They have established three large monuments with stone camel scriptures enscribed on them as well as building a pavilion in the garden. The Camel Spring attraction covers 3500 square meters and is in the shape of a long rectangle. In the center there is a pool that is 40 meters long and 20 meters wide. The spring water comes out from the center of this pool. The depth of the pool is 0.6 meters, and is enclosed by cement block.
AnGuLu Grave
The grave is located in ChaHadDuSi township close to GongBoXia on the south bank of the lower end of the Yellow River, just 23 kilometers from the county seat and 128 kilometers from Xining. The AnGuLu grave is a tourist, leisure, and religious attraction. This is the grave of a Muslim missionary from Central Asia, named HaSan, that came and worked in the Xunhua area in the mid-Ming dynasty. After his death many followers built a grave to commemorate his life and work. Now there are many Muslims that come to the grave site to pray whenever they face difficulties in life.