- Qilian Mountains
The Qilian Mountains (zh-cp|c=祁连山|p=Qílián Shān , also Nan Shan 南山 "southern mountains", viz., as seen from the
Silk Road ) is a northern outlier of theKunlun Mountains , forming the border between theQinghai and theGansu provinces of northernChina . The mountains are the source of the Ejin (Heihe) River.The range stretches from the south of
Dunhuang some 800 km to the southeast, forming the western border of theGansu Corridor . Formerly the mountain range was named Richthofen Range afterFerdinand von Richthofen .The eponymous Qilian Shan peak, situated some 60 km south of
Jiuquan , at coord|39|12|N|98|32|E|, rises to 5,547 m, constituting Gansu's highest elevation. It is the highest peak of the main range, but there are two higher peaks further south, Kangze'gyai at coord|38|30|N|97|43|E| with [http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=14100 5,808 m] and Qaidam Shan peak at coord|38|2|N|95|19|E| with [http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=14203 5,759 m] .The range continues to the west as Yema Shan (5,250 m) and
Altun Shan (5,798 m). To the east, it passes north ofQinghai Lake , terminating as Daban Shan and Xinglong Shan nearLanzhou , with Maoma Shan peak (4,070 m) an eastern outlier. Sections of theMing Dynasty 'sGreat Wall pass along its northern slopes, and south of northern outlier Longshou Shan (3,616 m).The "
Shiji " mentions the "Qilian or Heavenly (Tian) mountains" together withDunhuang as the homeland of theYuezhi . It is however possible that the name here refers to the mountains now known asTian Shan , 1,500 km to the west, and "Dunhuang" to a mountain otherwise attested asDunhong . [Xinru Liu, "Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies" (2001) [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_world_history/v012/12.2liu.html] ] "Qilian" ( _un. 祁连) is identified as a Xiongnu word meaning "sky" (zh-cp|天|tiān) byYan Shigu , aTang Dynasty commentator on the "Shiji".References
External links
* [http://www.peakbagger.com/range.aspx?rid=472 peakbagger.com]
* [http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/climat/world/eng/asia/china/qilianshan_e.htm Climatological Information (Reference) for Qilian Shan]
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