Golmud has a population of about 120,000 and is the second largest city in Qinghai. The principal industry is potash processing, although the oil industry is growing in importance. Several oil fields with substantial oil reserves are located in the extreme western end of the Tsaidam Basin near Gas Hu (Gasikule Lake) about 450 kilometers west of Golmud.

Golmud means "a place concentrated with rivers" in Mongolian. North of the city is the "salt bridge", built across the playa of Qarhana Saline Lake. The road is a dreadful bucking-bronco ride because it lacks a firm foundation being built on salt. The bridge is not a conventional bridge, but a causeway across a salt lake. We are told that potholes are filled by simply pouring in the hypersaline lake water.