Hoh Xil or Kekexili, ( Mongolian for "Blue Ridge", also Aqênganggyai for "Lord of Ten Thousand Mountains"), is an isolated region in the northeastern part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. On July 7, 2017, the Hoh Xil in

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

was listed among the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

s as "the largest and highest

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

in the world".

Geography

The region covers 83,000 square kilometres at an average elevation of 4,800 metres above sea level, stretches in the east-west direction between the

Tanggula The Tanggula (Chinese: , p ''Tánggǔlāshān'', or , p ''Tánggǔlāshānmài''), Tangla, Tanglha, or Dangla Mountains (Tibetan: , w ''Gdang La'', z ''Dang La'') are a mountain range in the central part of the Q ...

and

Kunlun The Kunlun Mountains ( zh, s=昆仑山, t=崑崙山, p=Kūnlún Shān, ; ug, كۇئېنلۇن تاغ تىزمىسى / قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى ) constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the bro ...

mountain chains in the border areas of southwest China's

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions ...

, northwest China's

Province and China's

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

. The southeastern part of the Hoh Xil, drained by the Chumar River (), is one of the major

headwater The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

sources of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

. The rest of the region is

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

, with drainage to numerous isolated lakes; this area is sometimes described by hydrologists as the "Hoh Xil lake district". 45,000 square kilometres of the Hoh Xil region, at an average elevation of 4,600 metres, were designated a national

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

in 1995. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is encompassed of the western half of Zhidoi County and western part of Qumarlêb County in

Bukadaban Feng Bukadaban Feng or Buka Daban Feng (), Syn Qing Feng () or Bokalik Tagh (), is a remote peak on the border between Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang and Qinghai provinces of China. The Chinese term 'Bukadaban Feng' is borrowed from the Uyghur for "bison pe ...

is considered part of Hoh Xil.

Geology

Hoh Xil is volcanic. The surrounding Northern Tibet volcanic field contains a number of late-Cenozoic volcanoes. Several Hawaiian-style volcanoes are present in this area. Bamaoqiongzong covers an area of 300 km² and contains a perfectly preserved edifice NE of the summit and a lava flow that overlies Quaternary lake deposits . The Bamaoqiongzong area contains peralkaline phonolitic and foiditic rocks. Yongbohu contains five dacitic, trachyandesitic and andesitic vents. Qiangbaqian covers a broad area along the southern border of the

mountain range. A cone in the Kekexili caldera, once thought to be observed in eruption on a satellite photo in 1973, is now considered not to have been historically active.Synonyms & Subfeatures

Wildlife

Despite the harsh climate, Hoh Xil is home to more than 230 species of wild animals, 20 of which are under Chinese state protection, including the

wild yak The wild yak (''Bos mutus'') is a large, wild bovine native to the Himalayas. It is the ancestor of the domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''). Taxonomy The ancestor of the wild and domestic yak is thought to have diverged from '' Bos primigeniu ...

, wild donkey, white-lip deer,

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is k ...

and the endangered

Tibetan antelope The Tibetan antelope or chiru (''Pantholops hodgsonii'') (, pronounced ; ) is a medium-sized bovid native to the northeastern Tibetan plateau. Most of the population live within the Chinese border, while some scatter across India and Bhutan in ...

or ''chiru''. The abundant

plateau pika The plateau pika (''Ochotona curzoniae''), also known as the black-lipped pika, is a species of mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae. It is a small diurnal and non-hibernating mammal weighing about 140 g when fully grown. The animals are ...

, a small burrowing rodent, is the main food of the region's brown bears; the bears also feed on the yak and antelope. The hitherto little-known region, as well the struggling Tibetan antelope, or chiru, became household names in China upon the release of the film '' Kekexili: Mountain Patrol'' in 2004. Zhuonai Lake () in Hoh Xil is known as a gathering place for the Tibetan antelope.

Transportation

The Qingzang Railway and

China National Highway 109 China National Highway 109 connects Beijing with Lhasa. It runs westwards from Beijing via Datong, Yinchuan and Xining to Golmud before turning southwest to Lhasa. The portion of the highway from Xining to Lhasa is known as the Qinghai-Tibet Hig ...

run along the eastern boundary of the reserve. The

Fenghuoshan Tunnel The Fenghuoshan Tunnel () is the highest railway tunnel in the world. It is 1,338 metres (4,390 feet) long, and stands 4,905 meters (16,093 feet) above sea level. It is part of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, linking Qinghai and Tibet that was compl ...

, presently the world's highest railway tunnel (1338 m long, with entrances located at an elevation of 4905 metres above sea level), was constructed in the area.

References

External links