The Qilian Mountains in the narrow sense refers to the northernmost mountain range of the Qilian Mountains (its main peak is at the western end of Nanshan Mountain in the corridor, with an altitude of 5547 meters); the Qilian Mountains in the broad sense, also known as the "Qilian Mountains", is the western part of Gansu Province and Qinghai The general name for the mountainous areas on the northeastern border of the province. It is located at the junction of Gansu and Qinghai provinces, starting from Songshan Mountain in Wushaoling in the east, reaching Dangjin Pass in the west, bordering the Hexi Corridor in the north, and the Qaidam Basin in the south. It spans eight counties (districts) of Tianzhu, Sunan, Gulang, Liangzhou, Yongchang, Shandan, Minle and Ganzhou.
The Qilian Mountains, located in the northeastern part of Qinghai Province and the western border of Gansu Province in China, are one of the main mountain ranges in China. It consists of a number of parallel mountains and wide valleys running from northwest to southeast. It is 800 kilometers long from east to west, 200-400 kilometers wide from north to south, and has an altitude of 4000-6000 meters. It has 3306 glaciers and an area of ??about 2062 square kilometers.
Qilian Mountain is known as the "Wanbao Mountain" and contains a wide variety of high-quality mineral deposits, including asbestos, pyrite, chromite, copper, lead, zinc and other minerals, and Water resources, forest resources and grassland resources are also very abundant. The main water storage is glaciers. The melt water of glaciers flows out to form the Qilian Mountains water system. The largest glaciers are Laohugou No. 12 Glacier in the Snow Mountains and Dunde Glacier on Turgendapo. ; Forests are mainly distributed in the middle section of the Qilian Mountains, the eastern section of Lenglongling, the eastern section of Daban Mountain and Laji Mountain; Haibei Prefecture in the southern part of the Qilian Mountains has vast natural pastures, and the animal husbandry industry is relatively developed. The total natural pasture area is 39.72 million acres, with alpine There are five major grasslands: dry grassland, mountain dry grassland, grassland desert grassland, alpine meadow grassland, and incidental grassland. Among them, alpine meadow grassland is the essence of the state's grassland, covering an area of ??30.2653 million acres.
The Qilian Mountains have a continental alpine semi-humid mountain climate. Winters are long, cold and dry, and summers are short, cool and humid. The annual precipitation is mainly concentrated from May to September. From shallow mountainous areas to deep mountainous areas, the temperature increases. Decreasing, rainfall increases, the mountains are cold and damp, and the shallow mountains are hot and dry. The vegetation in the Qilian Mountains is relatively good. In addition to natural pastures, there are also plants such as aspen, white birch, red birch, sea buckthorn, rose, and Mongolian meadowfoam.
Qilian County, in the hinterland of the middle section of the Qilian Mountains, is located in the northeast of Qinghai Province and the northwest of Haibei Prefecture. It is adjacent to the Gansu Hexi Corridor, the main thoroughfare of the ancient Silk Road, to the north. It is known as the "Northern Gate" of Qinghai. Covering an area of ??13,886 square kilometers, it is rich in tourism resources, including Qilian Mountain Grassland, Niuxin Mountain, Heihe Grand Canyon, Asia's largest semi-wild deer domestication base, Ami Dongsuo, Bayi Glacier, Zhuoer Mountain and other tourist attractions.