# Mangnai

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 350 kilometres (220 mi) 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 code |
| Towns ||||||||
| Huatugou Town | 花土沟镇 | Huātǔgōu Zhèn | ཧྭ་ཐུའུ་ཀུའུ་གྲོང་རྡལ། | hwa thu'u ku'u grong rdal | ᠡᠩᠭᠡᠷᠲᠦ ᠪᠠᠯᠭᠠᠰᠤᠨ | Энгэрт балгас | 632803100 |
| Mangnai Town | 茫崖镇 | Mángyá Zhèn | མང་ནེ་གྲོང་རྡལ། | mang ne grong rdal | ᠮᠠᠩᠨᠠᠢ ᠪᠠᠯᠭᠠᠰᠤᠨ | Магнай балгас | 632803101 |
| Lenghu Town | 冷湖镇 | Lěnghú Zhèn | ལེན་ཧུའུ་གྲོང་རྡལ། | len hu'u grong rdal | ᠬᠦᠢᠲᠡᠨ ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ ᠪᠠᠯᠭᠠᠰᠤᠨ | Хүйтэн нуур балгас | 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

Climate data for Mangnai, elevation 2,945 m (9,662 ft), (1991–2020 normals) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −3.2 (26.2) | 2.2 (36.0) | 8.1 (46.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 17.9 (64.2) | 21.6 (70.9) | 24.1 (75.4) | 23.8 (74.8) | 19.1 (66.4) | 11.9 (53.4) | 4.2 (39.6) | −2.3 (27.9) | 11.8 (53.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −10.7 (12.7) | −5.8 (21.6) | 0.1 (32.2) | 6.0 (42.8) | 10.5 (50.9) | 14.7 (58.5) | 17.1 (62.8) | 16.5 (61.7) | 11.6 (52.9) | 3.9 (39.0) | −3.7 (25.3) | −9.6 (14.7) | 4.2 (39.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −17.4 (0.7) | −13.1 (8.4) | −7.5 (18.5) | −1.8 (28.8) | 3.2 (37.8) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.8 (51.4) | 9.9 (49.8) | 4.7 (40.5) | −3.4 (25.9) | −10.6 (12.9) | −16.0 (3.2) | −2.8 (27.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 0.8 (0.03) | 0.6 (0.02) | 0.8 (0.03) | 1.5 (0.06) | 6.1 (0.24) | 11.5 (0.45) | 13.6 (0.54) | 7.8 (0.31) | 4.5 (0.18) | 0.8 (0.03) | 0.1 (0.00) | 0.3 (0.01) | 48.4 (1.9) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 5.9 | 7.3 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 27.9 |
| Average snowy days | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 12.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 36 | 28 | 24 | 23 | 26 | 32 | 36 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 30 | 37 | 30 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 227.3 | 224.8 | 263.2 | 275.2 | 285.9 | 261.4 | 263.9 | 270.2 | 270.0 | 282.3 | 239.7 | 223.5 | 3,087.4 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 74 | 73 | 70 | 69 | 64 | 59 | 59 | 65 | 74 | 83 | 80 | 76 | 71 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## Tourism

The main touristic sites in Mangnai are:
* Emerald Lake (Chinese: 翡翠湖)
* Qianfo cliffs (Chinese: 千佛崖; lit. 'thousand Buddha cliffs')
* Gasi Lake (Chinese: 尕斯湖)
* Yingxiongling Danxia Landform (Chinese: 丹霞地貌英雄岭)
* Alar Wetland (Chinese: 阿拉尔湿地)
* Yardang landform (Chinese: 雅丹地貌)
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.