Jingjiang Inn Xining West Wuxi Road Qinghai Normal University

We stayed one night here on returning to Xining from Tongren and were pleasantly surprised. Jinjiang Inns are simple, no-frills, chain hotels found throughout China and have seval locations in Xining. This one had clean, modern, spacious, comfortable rooms with plentiful hot water, and very comfy beds for a Chinese hotel! The location is a little out of the way but taxis are cheap and plentiful in Xining and it's easy enough to take a cab to a more central location for dinner or a drink. The front desk staff are helpful and efficient (e.g. arranging a cab to pick us up for a very early morning departure to the airport) although not sure how easy it would be if you don't speak any Mandarin. No in-room wifi but there is free, fast (for China) wi-fi in the lobby. There are a couple of non-smoking floors, worth requesting a room on these as they do seem to be genuinely smoke-free. For the price this is an excellent value option for a short stay in Xining. Worth being aware that cabs charge a RMB 100 flat fare to/from the airport to here or anywhere else in the city centre - this isn't spelled out clearly in Chinese or English at the airport so it can be easy to assume that cabbies are trying to rip you off.