Exhibition highlights home artist carries with her

"For me, home begins on the grassland of Qinghai. I was a child who grew up on horseback," the artist said. "When I think of home, I think of the wind on my face, the smell of the grassland, and the endless sky."

The theme also resonated with visitors. The artist recalled one woman leaving the gallery in tears after viewing the exhibition.

The visitor held her hand and told her: "You took me back to the time when I was a little girl."

The exhibition came as Qinghai is seeing rapid growth in international tourism. The province received 115,200 inbound visitors in 2025, up 209.1 percent from a year earlier, according to provincial tourism statistics.

For eligible travelers from 55 countries, including the United Kingdom, China's 240-hour visa-free transit policy also applies at Xining Caojiabao Airport. Eligible travelers can stay for up to 10 days under the policy's requirements.

"Qinghai is known as the source of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang rivers," said Dong Fuhai, director of the Qinghai Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. Often described in China as the country's "water tower", the province is shaped by snow-covered mountains, glaciers, high-altitude lakes, grasslands, and red-rock landscapes.