China’s Qinghai: Transforming Life on the ‘Roof of the World’ with Communications

Qinghai Province sits at an average elevation of over 3,500 meters. The northeastern part of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau – the world’s highest and longest plateau – hits heights of up to 4,500 meters and is often referred to as the ‘Roof of the World”

As the birthplace of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Mekong rivers and the core area of the Sanjiangyuan Ecological Reserve, Qinghai is home to many of China's vital water systems. It is also the spiritual homeland of the Qiang and Tibetan cultures, shaping a cultural legacy that spans centuries and is embodied by Regong art, Thangka paintings, and intricate wood carvings.

Today, the isolation of Qinghai is giving way to a connected future complete with new models for preserving local culture and art, growing the incomes of cattle and sheep farmers, modernizing rural governance, and conserving nature.

Qinghai's high-altitude, extreme cold, and low-oxygen environment has historically made constructing strong communications infrastructure difficult.

Cattle farmers had to climb steep mountain peaks if they needed a signal and communities were isolated from skilled workers, hindering Qinghai’s development and leaving the region lagging behind as China rapidly embraces digital and intelligent transformation.

Launched by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2015 to bridge the digital divide, promote social equity, and improve public services, China’s universal telecom service recently marked its 10th anniversary.

Since its launch, China Mobile, Huawei, and partners have worked to build digital villages across Qinghai.

Cultural heritage goes global

Tongren city in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is the birthplace of the Regong arts, which UNESCO listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009. Thangka paintings and wood carvings are two key types of the Regong arts, the legacy of which has been passed down by the Qiang and Tibetan peoples for centuries.

Traditional thangka paintings require precise color blending and intricate line work. However, limited Internet access prevented painters from studying high definition images of Thangka paintings online, exchanging techniques, or sharing their work online.

Dorje, a ninth-generation woodcarver based in the ancient Guomari Fortress, struggled to reach global audiences with his intricate wooden Buddha statues and scripture blocks. Isolation also meant that this rare artform was running the risk of dying out.

To provide high-speed reliable connectivity, China Mobile Qinghai began optimizing and upgrading local 4G and 5G base stations and implementing the company's fiber to the home (FTTH) initiative, providing high-speed network coverage for the Regong Longshu Painting Center and its surrounding areas.

At Guomari fortress, China Mobile Qinghai trialed a non-invasive approach to laying fiber-optic cables and 88 broadband ports along the base of the fortress, preserving the integrity of the ancient fortress walls and providing 100% network access to all 147 households and five homestays in the fortress.

The wood carving masterpieces of Dorje

"In the past, we relied on books with small pictures to study ancient paintings, making it difficult to examine intricate brushwork in detail. Now advanced connectivity lets us download HD images to better understand the techniques of master artists. This enables painters to create their own work and helps preserve the authenticity of Thangka art,” said Fan Qingji, a painter at the Regong Longshu Painting Center.

Dorje now shares his carving techniques on livestreams, helping Regong arts thrive in the digital age.

A painter examining a HD Thangka image on his phone

Transforming cattle farming

Agriculture is another pillar industry in Qinghai. However, the Sigou livestock breeding center in the remote mountainous valley of Datong County, Xining City, has long suffered communications dead zones.

Spotty signal coverage made it difficult for cattle farmers to sell their cattle and sheep online or coordinate feed delivery in real time, forcing them to wait at the village entrance to get a signal.

In response, China Mobile Qinghai launched a new base station project, which saw engineers braving severe winter weather to haul heavy base station equipment down rocky mountain roads. In just five days, the team built and debugged a base station in Sigou Village, finally ending the digital isolation of this remote valley.

A livestock farm in Sigou Village, Datong County, Xining City

Today, Sigou Village's breeding center has full network coverage and livestreaming is a routine marketing tool for local cattle farmers.

"Livestreaming is very smooth and video calls are convenient. Buyers can see how cattle are raised and check their condition, which builds real trust," one cattle farmer explained.

The stable network also allows cattle farmers to sell directly to buyers and get the best prices by cutting out intermediaries, unlocking fresh growth for livestock farming in the region.

Transforming rural governance

China Mobile Qinghai's rural transformation platform has driven the digital and intelligent transformation of Wutun Shangzhuang Village in Longwu Town, Tongren City in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

A public safety system and smart loudspeakers at the village entrance broadcast weather updates and disaster warnings in real time, ensuring critical information reaches households and road junctions instantly. The integrated service solution combines security systems, mobile apps, cloud storage, and communications networks, greatly improving the efficiency and precision of village administration, public services, and safety management.

China Mobile's rural digital and intelligent transformation platform

Similarly, Dongxia Village in Huangyuan County is one of China's first national digital village pilots. The local governance platform developed by China Mobile Qinghai integrates rural governance, smart tourism, specialty industry management, and more. The project now serves as a national benchmark for digital and intelligent rural management.

Dongxia Village's digital village and tourism platform

Opening a new chapter for Qinghai

Over the past decade, the advancement of universal telecom service reflects China’s commitment to provide full coverage, from mountains peaks and remote desert landscapes to forests and isolated islands.

Equipment debugging by a telecom professional on the plateau

The level of network coverage available in China today would have been unimaginable a decade ago. The country has achieved its key milestone of gigabit for every county, 5G for every township, and broadband for every village. More than 130,000 administrative villages now have fiber optic network coverage, and rural areas are benefiting from 100,000 4G and 5G base stations. In townships, both 5G and gigabit broadband coverage have hit 100%.

Widespread, reliable networks are bridging development gaps in remote regions like the Qinghai Plateau, improving quality of life, driving industry transformation, and preserving cultural heritage.

Looking to the future, Huawei will continue to work with Chinese carriers to expand connectivity in remote and rural areas, leveraging digital technology to its fullest potential.