Wenquan (Chinese: 温泉; pinyin: Wēnquán; Wade–Giles: Wen-ch'üan, i.e. "Warm Springs") is a small settlement in the Qinghai province of China.
Administratively, it is part of Tanggula Town, which is an exclave of Golmud County-level city, Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Originally constructed in 1955,[1] Wenquan is one of the small settlements serving China National Highway 109 (the main road into Tibet), and, later, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
It is located a few tens of kilometers north of the Tanggula Pass, where the road and the railway enter from Qinghai Province into the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
[1] However, National Geographic Magazine (May 2003) gives the highest city distinction to La Rinconada, Peru, which has a much higher population and lies at 5,100 metres (16,700 ft) above sea level.