Mangnai, also known as Mang'ai, is a county-level city in the northwest of Qinghai Province, China, bordering Xinjiang to the north and west. It is under the administration of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It is one of the most remote cities in China, the closest other city, Ruoqiang, is located away. In 2020 it had a population of 18856. The name Mangnai is based on the Mongolian word for 'forehead'.
It was formed in 2018 when the Mangnai and Lenghu administrative zones merged to establish the county-level city of Mangnai.
Economy Mangnai had a large asbestos mine, it was the largest in China, it also holds around half of China's serpentine reserves. It also produces oil, natural gas, celestite, and sodium sulfate.
Administrative divisions Mangnai is divided into 3 towns. The administrative center is the Huatugou Town.
Name Simplified Chinese Hanyu Pinyin Tibetan Wylie Mongolian (traditional script) Mongolian (Cyrillic) Administrative division codeTowns Huatugou Town 632803100 Mangnai Town 632803101 Lenghu Town 632803102
Demographics 17 different ethnic groups live in the city, including the Han Chinese, Mongols, Tibetans, the Hui, Salars, Monguors, Manchus, Dongxiangs, and Uighurs.
Climate Magnai has a cool arid climate (Köppen BWk), very similar to that of Golmud. It is characterised by warm to very warm summers, freezing to frigid winters, large diurnal temperature variation year-round, and extremely low precipitation especially in the cold season from October to April when only can be expected in seven months.
Tourism The main touristic sites in Mangnai are:
Emerald Lake () Qianfo cliffs () Gasi Lake () Yingxiongling Danxia Landform () Alar Wetland () Yardang landform () In 2019, a camp meant to simulate conditions on the planet Mars opened in the town of Lenghu, which is primarily geared towards tourists.
Transport Mangnai is located strategically on one of the main transport corridors between Gansu and Xinjiang. The Haixi Huatugou Airport serves Mangnai and the city is served by the Golmud–Korla railway and is located along China National Highway 315.
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