Geography
The range stretches from the south of Dunhuang some 800 km to the southeast, forming the northeastern escarpment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the southwestern border of the Gansu Corridor.
The eponymous Qilian Shan peak, situated some 60 km south of Jiuquan, at 39°12′N 98°32′E / 39.2°N 98.533°E / 39.2; 98.533, 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 38°30′N 97°43′E / 38.5°N 97.717°E / 38.5; 97.717 with 5,808 m and Qaidam Shan peak at 38°2′N 95°19′E / 38.033°N 95.317°E / 38.033; 95.317 with 5,759 m.
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, terminating as Daban Shan and Xinglong Shan near Lanzhou, with Maoma Shan peak (4,070 m) an eastern outlier. Sections of the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall pass along its northern slopes, and south of northern outlier Longshou Shan (3,616 m).
The Qilian mountains are the source of numerous, mostly small, rivers and creeks that flow northeast, enabling irrigated agriculture in the Gansu Corridor communities, and eventually disappearing in the Alashan Desert. The best known of these streams is the Ejin (Heihe) River.
The characteristic ecosystem of the Qilian Mountains has been described by the World Wildlife Fund as the Qilian Mountains conifer forests.
Biandukou (扁都口), with an altitude of over 3500 m, is a pass in the Qilian Mountains. It links Minle County of Gansu in the north and Qilian County of Qinghai in the south.
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