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The Qilian Mountains (also Nan Shan ?? "southern mountains", viz., as seen from the Silk Road
Silk Road

The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe....
) is a northern outlier of the Kunlun Mountains
Kunlun Mountains

The Kunlun Mountains is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km.The Kunlun runs westwards along the northern part of the Tibetan plateau to form the border range of northern Tibet....
, forming the border between the Qinghai
Qinghai

is a provinces of China of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake. It borders Gansu on the northeast, the Xinjiang on the northwest, Sichuan on the southeast, and Tibet Autonomous Region on the southwest....
 and the Gansu
Gansu

or , is a political divisions of China located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It lies between Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and the Loess Plateau, and borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west....
 provinces of northern China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. The mountains are the source of the Ejin (Heihe) River
Ejin River

The Ejin River , also known as the Heihe River , is a major river system that originates on the northern Gansu side of the Qilian Shan mountains....
.

The range stretches from the south of Dunhuang
Dunhuang

Dunhuang is a city in Jiuquan, Gansu province of China, China. It is sited in an oasis....
 some 800 km to the southeast, forming the western border of the Gansu Corridor. Formerly the mountain range was named Richthofen Range after Ferdinand von Richthofen
Ferdinand von Richthofen

Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen was a Germany traveller, geographer and scientist....
, who was the Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed Aerial warfare victories....
's explorer-geologist uncle.

The eponymous Qilian Shan peak, situated some 60 km south of Jiuquan
Jiuquan

Jiuquan is a "prefecture-level city" in the westernmost part of the Gansu province in China.The entire "prefecture-level city" stretches for more than 500 km from east to west, occupying 191,342 km?; its population as of 2002 was 962,000....
, at , rises to 5,547 m, constituting Gansu's highest elevation.






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The Qilian Mountains (also Nan Shan ?? "southern mountains", viz., as seen from the Silk Road
Silk Road

The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe....
) is a northern outlier of the Kunlun Mountains
Kunlun Mountains

The Kunlun Mountains is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km.The Kunlun runs westwards along the northern part of the Tibetan plateau to form the border range of northern Tibet....
, forming the border between the Qinghai
Qinghai

is a provinces of China of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake. It borders Gansu on the northeast, the Xinjiang on the northwest, Sichuan on the southeast, and Tibet Autonomous Region on the southwest....
 and the Gansu
Gansu

or , is a political divisions of China located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It lies between Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and the Loess Plateau, and borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west....
 provinces of northern China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. The mountains are the source of the Ejin (Heihe) River
Ejin River

The Ejin River , also known as the Heihe River , is a major river system that originates on the northern Gansu side of the Qilian Shan mountains....
.

The range stretches from the south of Dunhuang
Dunhuang

Dunhuang is a city in Jiuquan, Gansu province of China, China. It is sited in an oasis....
 some 800 km to the southeast, forming the western border of the Gansu Corridor. Formerly the mountain range was named Richthofen Range after Ferdinand von Richthofen
Ferdinand von Richthofen

Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen was a Germany traveller, geographer and scientist....
, who was the Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed Aerial warfare victories....
's explorer-geologist uncle.

The eponymous Qilian Shan peak, situated some 60 km south of Jiuquan
Jiuquan

Jiuquan is a "prefecture-level city" in the westernmost part of the Gansu province in China.The entire "prefecture-level city" stretches for more than 500 km from east to west, occupying 191,342 km?; its population as of 2002 was 962,000....
, at , rises to 5,547 m, constituting Gansu's highest elevation. It is the highest peak of the main range, but there are two higher peaks further south, Kangze'gyai at with and Qaidam Shan peak at with .

The range continues to the west as Yema Shan (5,250 m) and Altun Shan (5,798 m). To the east, it passes north of Qinghai Lake
Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake , historically known as Koko Nor , is a saline lake situated in the province of Qinghai, and is the largest lake in China. The names Qinghai and Kokonor both mean "Blue/Teal Sea" in Standard Mandarin and classical Mongolian....
, terminating as Daban Shan and Xinglong Shan near Lanzhou
Lanzhou

Lanzhou is a prefecture-level city and capital of Gansu Province of China in northwestern China....
, with Maoma Shan peak (4,070 m) an eastern outlier. Sections of the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling Dynasties in Chinese history of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty....
's Great Wall pass along its northern slopes, and south of northern outlier Longshou Shan (3,616 m).

The Shiji mentions the "Qilian or Heavenly (Tian) mountains" together with Dunhuang
Dunhuang

Dunhuang is a city in Jiuquan, Gansu province of China, China. It is sited in an oasis....
 as the homeland of the Yuezhi
Yuezhi

The Yuezhi or Rouzhi , also known as the Da Yuezhi or Da Rouzhi , were an ancient Central Asian people.They are believed by most scholars to have been an Indo-European people, and may have been the same as or closely related to the Tocharians of Classical sources....
. It is however possible that the name here refers to the mountains now known as Tian Shan
Tian Shan

The Tian Shan , also commonly spelled Tien Shan, is a mountain range located in Central Asia. The Chinese name for Tian Shan or Tien Shan, may in turn go back to a Xiongnu name, qilian reported by the Shiji as the last place where they met and had their baby as in of the Yuezhi, which has been argued to refer to the Tian Shan...
, 1,500 km to the west, and Dunhuang to a mountain otherwise attested as Dunhong
Dunhong

The Dunhong mountain according to the Shanhaijing is a mountain of the Tian Shan range. Lin Meicun identifies it with the Dunhuang of the Shiji by Sima Qian which states that:...
. Qilian is identified as a Xiongnu word meaning "sky" by Yan Shigu
Yan Shigu

Yan Shigu , formal name Yan Zhou , but went by the courtesy name of Shigu, was a famous China author and linguist of the Tang Dynasty....
, a Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an Dynasties in Chinese history preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire....
 commentator on the Shiji.

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