Qinghai also known as Tsinghai,formerly known in English as Kokonor, is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northwest of the country. Located mostly on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the province has long been a melting pot for a number of ethnic groups including the Han, Tibetans, Hui, Tu, Mongols, and Salars. Qinghai borders Gansu on the northeast, the Xinjiang on the northwest, Sichuan on the southeast, and the Tibet Autonomous Region on the southwest.