Kunlun Mountain Pass

　　Introduction     Kunlun Mountain towers over the south of Golmud City. Ancient texts describe it as the place where the Jade Dragon soars into the sky, and it has long been known as the backbone of Asia. Kunlun Mountain Pass is part of a perennially frozen desert landscape, with geology consisting of ancient, highly eroded complex metamorphic rocks, interspersed with hills and ridges formed from Tertiary sedimentary deposits. The slopes and valleys are home to wild plateau tundra desert plants such as rhododendrons and tiger’s paw earwort. Ascending to the pass, the majestic peaks and valleys of the Kunlun Mountains resemble herds of galloping horses clad in silver-gray armor, surging forward with the rising winds and shifting clouds.

　　 Qinghai Golmud