Xi'ning is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau.

The Hexi Corridor (Chinese: 河西走廊; pinyin: Héxī Zǒuláng; Wade–Giles: Ho2-hsi1 Tsou3-lang2, Xiao'erjing: حْسِ ظِوْلاْ, Mandarin pronunciation: [xɤ˧˥ɕi˥ tsoʊ˨˩˦lɑŋ˧˥]), also known as the Gansu Corridor, is an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China. It refers to a narrow stretch of traversable and relatively arable plain west of the Yellow River's Ordos Loop (hence the name Hexi, meaning "west of the river"), flanked between the much more elevated and inhospitable terrains of the Mongolian and Tibetan Plateaus.