Kunlun Mountain Cultural Tourism Area

　　   Guide    Golmud City is backed by the Kunlun Mountains and situated in the Qaidam Basin, a "treasure basin" rich in resources, forming the Kunlun Mountain Cultural Tourism Area centered around Golmud.        Introduction      The Kunlun Mountains rise from the Pamir Plateau, soaring majestically across thousands of miles from east to west; vast and boundless, with towering snow-capped peaks and sprawling glaciers, they are awe-inspiring and magnificent. Since ancient times, the Kunlun Mountains have been a sacred place longed for by all ethnic groups in China.

　　    The Kunlun Mountains hold a prominent status as the "Ancestor of All Mountains" in the cultural history of the Chinese nation. In ancient times, the Kunlun Mountains were referred to as the "Vein of the Dragon Ancestor" of China. Throughout the ages, countless sages, scholars, warriors, and wanderers have gazed westward, pouring their hearts into the Kunlun Mountains, expressing their admiration and longing through poetry and prose.

　　    Stretching 2,500 kilometers from east to west with an average altitude of 5,000 meters, the western section of the Kunlun Mountains, the Karakoram Range, serves as the natural boundary between the Tarim Basin and the northern Tibetan Plateau. The eastern Kunlun is composed of three major mountain systems: the northern branch of the Altyn-Tagh–Qilian Mountains, the central branch of the Kunlun Mountains, and the southern branch of the Tanggula Mountains. The Kunlun Mountains are crisscrossed with valleys, harboring endless grandeur, mystery, and richness. Standing at the Kunlun Mountain Pass, both the eastern and western Kunlun ranges are visible. To the east, amidst the silent, age-old snowy wilderness, the Yuzhu Peak rises solitary and majestic, towering over the surrounding mountains, creating a unique natural landscape of the icy world.

　　    The Golmud Kunlun Mountain Cultural Tourism Area is a national 4A-level tourist attraction, boasting extremely rich tourism resources: Chaka Salt Lake and the Ten-Thousand-Zhang Salt Bridge transport visitors into a dreamlike salt world; the Naij Tal Spring, known as the "Glacial Sweet Dew," still carries the legendary tale of Princess Wencheng and her entourage resting here during their journey to Tibet; the Mongolian people living in the Qaidam Basin have gradually developed a distinct Mongolian culture with Qinghai characteristics over centuries of life on the Qinghai Plateau; the rare Yardang landforms distributed in the northwest of the Qaidam Basin are unparalleled in the world.     

　　 Golmud, Qinghai