Xining's bus and train stations are located very close together in the eastern part of town on opposite banks of the Huangshui River. There are direct trains to and from most major cities in eastern China, including Lanzhou in Gansu Province (4hr). There's also a twice-daily service west to Golmud, for those heading on to Tibet, though it takes longer than the bus. Attempting to buy outward-bound tickets from the train station is not recommended as the queues can be overwhelming - any travel service can arrange tickets for ¥30 commission. The airport , 13km from town, has a few scheduled weekly services to and from major Chinese cities.

Most important facilities are located around the large traffic circle, Ximen. The main Bank of China (Mon-Fri & Sat am) is a huge building on Dongguan Dajie near the mosque, though any of the branch offices can also change travellers' cheques - there's one just west of Da Shizi. The main post office , where you can also make IDD telephone calls, is on Da Shizi; you enter by climbing the raised pedestrian walkway. You'll find another office for making IDD calls a few minutes east of the train station. The telecom office on Tongren Jie, by the intersection with Wushi Jie, has a room full of computers on the second floor, open from 10am to 10pm; Internet access is ¥10 an hour.

There are two or three travel agents in town that may come in handy for buying train or plane tickets, or for organizing trips to more remote parts of Qinghai. The Qinghai Jiaotong Luxingshe (tel 0971/8149504 ext 2626), based at the front of the long-distance bus station, offers tours to Qinghai Hu. Qinghai CITS (tel 0971/8238701), housed in the Xining Guest Hotel (front building), can organize trekking, rafting, mountaineering or other adventure holidays, usually at fairly short notice.