High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Qinghai was only relatively recently made a province of China. A large part of the area, historically called Kokonor/ Koknor in English until the early 20th century, lies outside of China proper and has been an ethnic melting pot for centuries, mixing Tibetan, Han Chinese, Mongol, and Turkic influences. It was a battleground during the Tang and subsequent Chinese dynasties when they fought against successive Tibetan dynasties. Qinghai was under early Ming dynasty control.