Qilian Mountains

The Qilian Mountains form one of the defining geographic features of northwest China, a long range running along the border of Gansu and Qinghai and shaping the climate, hydrology, and human geography of the entire Hexi Corridor at their northern foot. The name Qilian comes from an old term for sky or heaven, reflecting how the range appeared to the ancient nomadic peoples of the Gansu grasslands, and the mountains have played a central role in the history and culture of the region for as long as people have lived along their flanks.

Snow and glaciers on the highest peaks feed a network of streams that flow north onto the Gansu corridor, forming the string of oases that includes Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, and Jiuquan and making possible the settled agriculture and Silk Road traffic that defined this stretch of northwest China for two thousand years. Without the water from the Qilian range, the Hexi Corridor would be far less habitable, and the historical trade routes that linked inland China with Central Asia would have followed a very different geography.

On the southern side of the range, in what is now Qinghai, the mountains trap enough moisture to support the grasslands around Menyuan, Qilian county, and Huzhu, and they play a similar role in sustaining the lake and pasture landscape of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The ecological and cultural contrasts between the dry northern flank and the wetter southern side of the range are central to understanding why the Qilian matter as more than just a backdrop to Zhangye.

For a Zhangye travel guide, the Qilian Mountains are best understood as the geographic frame within which the entire city sits, with several of the city's headline attractions, including the Danxia parks, the alpine meadows, and the Mati Temple area, all set on or near the range's northern slopes.