Haibei Prefecture is a Tibetan autonomous prefecture with animal husbandry as its main feature. The local diet features mainly the daily diet of herders, such as dough, milk tea and hand-grabbed mutton.

Noodles are fast food for a long journey. Qinghai is vast and sparsely populated, and the transportation is inconvenient. In the past, Han, Hui and Tibetan people traveled far between farming and pastoral areas, and few hotels were available for accommodation. After a day's trek, they often set up tents with a corner of aquatic plants and a pot with three stones. Instead of chopping boards, knives and rolling pins, as long as there is a bowl, noodles are mixed with cold water and kneaded into flat strips. Milk tea is not only the top grade for hospitality in agricultural areas, but also a gift for visiting relatives and friends and consoling patients. On holidays, welcoming the New Year and getting married are the first drinks to honor guests, which are called Happy Tea and New Year Tea. Hand-grabbed mutton is a dish for Qinghai people to entertain guests, and it is also one of the indispensable staple foods in daily life.