Qinling Range
The Qinling mountain range runs 1,500 kilometers from the borders of Gansu and Qinghai provinces in the west to the middle of Henan Province in the east. In China the term particularly refers to the section located in Shaanxi Province in central China. The peaks reach 2,000–3,000 meters, the highest being Mount Taibai (3,767 meters), located about 100 kilometers west of Xi'an. The steep northern slopes of the range overlook the Wei River valley and separate the southern part of the province from the rest. The range also constitutes a natural border between north and south China, featuring dry temperate climate in the north and humid subtropic climate in the south. There are only four passes crossing the range, so the mountains have also served as a natural defense against nomadic invasions from the north. In 1998 the construction of a double-track railway tunnel through the mountains was begun. The Qinling Mountains cover more than 50,000 square kilometers and are home to a great variety of wildlife and endangered species. Some 200 giant pandas, about one-fifth of the total population, live in nature reserves in the mountains, and more than 3,000 rare plants have been observed. The region is sparsely populated, and the main sources of income are forestry and some coal mining.
Further Reading
Rost, Karl Tilman. (1992) Geomorphologische Höhenstufen im Qinling Shan (VR China) unter besonderer Berü ckischtigung der jungpleistzänen Vergletscherungen. Göttingen, Germany: Göttinger geographische Abhandlungen.
Schlütz, Frank. (1999) Palynologische Untersuchungen ü ber die holozäne Vegetations-, Klimaund Siedlungsgeschichte in Hochasien (Nanga Parbat, Karakorum, Nianbaoyeze, Lhasa) und das Pleistozän in China (Qinling-Gebirge, Gaxun Nur). Berlin: J. Cramer.
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