Xunhua Salar Autonomous County

Xunhua County is the location of the Bronze Age necropolis Suzhi () of the Kayue culture. Salar arrival Ethnic Salars first arrived in present-day Xunhua Salar Autonomous County during the 13th or 14th century, as part of the Mongol army. Initially, Salar settlers cohabitated with ethnic Tibetans, moving into existing Tibetan villages along the Yellow River. Choekyi Gyaltsen, the 10th Panchen Lama, was born in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County on February 19, 1938. In April 1958, during the Great Leap Forward, an uprising of ethnic Tibetan and Salar people against the government took place, known as the Xunhua Incident. Over 400 people were killed by the People's Liberation Army as a result. In 1996, Wimdo township only had one Salar because Tibetans complained about the Muslim call to prayer and a mosque built in the area in the early 1990s so they kicked out most of the Salars from the region. == Geography ==

Xunhua Salar Autonomous County is located in the east of Qinghai province, under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Haidong. The autonomous county spans an area of approximately , and has an average elevation of above sea level. The Yellow River flows through the autonomous county for more than . ==Climate==

== Administrative divisions ==

Xunhua Salar Autonomous County administers three towns, two townships, and four ethnic townships: • Jishi Town () • Baizhuang Town () • Jiezi Town () • Qingshui Township () • Chahandousi Township () • Dobi Tibetan Ethnic Township (, ) • Gangca Tibetan Ethnic Township (, ) • Windo Tibetan Ethnic Township (, ) • Garing Tibetan Ethnic Township (, ) == Demographics ==

Xunhua Salar Autonomous County is a majority-minority region within China, with the eponymous Salar people constituting 62.7% of the autonomous county's population, per a 2022 government publication. Other sizeable ethnic minority populations within the autonomous county include Tibetans and the Hui. Conversely, the Han Chinese make up just 6.5% of the autonomous county's population. Salar subgroups Salars in the area live along both banks of the Yellow River, south and north. Due to a prolonged period of separation due to a lack of bridge across the river, separate subgroups of Salars in the areas emerged: Bayan Salars, largely concentrated in present-day Hualong Hui Autonomous County to the north, and Xunhua Salars who largely reside in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County. This physical separation has resulted linguistic and cultural differences between Xunhua Salars and Bayan Salars to the north, to such a degree that government officials from the Qing dynasty identified them as two distinct groups. The region north of the Yellow River is a mix of discontinuous Salar and Tibetan villages while the region south of the yellow river is solidly Salar with no gaps in between, since Hui and Salars pushed the Tibetans on the south region out earlier. == Economy ==

In 2021, Xunhua Salar Autonomous County's gross domestic product (GDP) totaled 4.036 billion renminbi (RMB), an increase of 6.5% over the previous year. Total retail sales in the autonomous county totaled 1.19 billion RMB, an increase of 7.5% from the previous year. As of 2021, the per capita disposable income of urban residents reached 35,233 RMB, an increase of 6.8% from the previous year; per capita disposable income of rural residents totaled 13,773 RMB, an increase of 10.6% from the previous year. The autonomous county has a sizeable tourism industry, and boasts a number of eco-tourist attractions. Xunhua Salar Autonomous County received approximately 4.36 million tourists in 2021, and earned 2.25 billion renminbi in tourist revenue. == Culture ==

Lamian is a popular dish in the area, with the autonomous county's government boasting that the region has nearly 10,000 lamian shops. ==See also==