Language: English
Published on: 1988-01
Hardcover
In may, 1983 the Altun Mountain National Nature Reservethe largest one in area in the world was established in the southeastern cornet of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region when the news was disclosed, the reserve received immediate domestic and international attention. Situated in the huge depression basin on the northern slope of the central section of the Eastern Kunlun Mountains, the reserve borders in the east the Qaidam Basin, the highest interior basin in China, and leans against the Kunlun Mountains in the south, connecting the Northern Tibet Plateau. In the north, the reserve is sheltered by the Altun Mountains.
Its inland geological location the harsh natural conditions of its surrounding areas,
and its separation due to its extraordinarily high and deep mountains and valleys have
made the reserve an untraversed region and one of the rare geographical blanks on earth,
which has aroused intense interest from Chinese as well as foreign scientists.
The boundless Kunlun Mountain Range, framing the northern fringe of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, runs along the southern border of the reserve. Surrounded by countless peaks and covered by snow and ice, it looks like an unharnessed silver dragon flying across the plateau. Its unparalleled magnificence has been eulogized as the symbol of the
Ancient Chinese West ever since ancient times. Because of its remoteness and mystery,
it is one of the places where many ancient Chinese myths originated. Legends about the Kunlun Mountains have spread far and near for centuries. It is a place covered with mysterious colors which sends peoples imaginations soaring.
Geographical Location and Environment;
Landforms and Topographies;
Rivers, Lakes, and Springs;
Climatic F eatures;
Vegetation Plants;
Wild Animals;
Cultural History.
