The Xining City Museum documents the history of Xining from its origins as a Han Dynasty garrison post established around 111 BCE to defend the western frontier, through its centuries as a waystation on the Silk Road, to its modern development as a provincial capital. The museum is modest in scale but covers the city's history with unusual clarity, including a good account of the intercultural dynamics between Han, Tibetan, and Muslim communities that have always defined the city's character.
The section covering the 20th century includes material on the Ma clique warlords who controlled Qinghai and much of the northwest for decades before 1949 — an important and often glossed-over period of regional history. The museum is centrally located and admission is free; it takes about an hour.