Qinling Mountains

Qinling Mountains (English name TsinlingMountains, also known as ChinLing or QinLing). The east-west mountain range traverses central China. It starts from southern Gansu in the west, passes through southern Shaanxi to western Henan, and is located at the junction of southern Shaanxi Province and northern Sichuan Province. It runs east-west and is about 1,500 kilometers long. It is the watershed between the Weihe River, a tributary of the Yellow River, the Jialing River, and the Han River, the tributaries of the Yangtze River. Qinling-Huaihe is an important north-south dividing line in China's geography. The Qinling Mountains lie in the middle of China, stretching 1,500 kilometers from east to west, 100 to 150 kilometers wide from north to south, and mostly 1500 to 2500 meters above sea level. Qinling is an important watershed between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, with the fertile Guanzhong Plain to the north and the narrow Hanshui Valley to the south. It is a folded (mainly) fault block mountain. The main peak of the Qinling Mountains, Taibai Mountain, is 3,767 meters above sea level, and is one of the few peaks in eastern China that exceeds 3,000 meters. The climate on the summit is cold, often snow-capped, and the silvery peaks can be seen hundreds of miles away when the weather is clear. There are ancient glacier remains on the top of the mountain. The Qinling Mountains are adjacent to the Weihe Plain in the north, and there is a large fault in the middle, which is a fault block structure dipping northward and southward. The main ridge is on the north side, the north slope is steep and short, and the south slope is gentle and long. The water system is also asymmetrical. There are many horizontal valleys between the mountains, which are the north-south traffic channels. The Baocheng Railway runs through the mountains along the Jialing River valley. The Qinling Mountains have a significant blocking effect on the airflow. In summer, the humid ocean air flow is not easy to penetrate into the northwest, and the climate in the north is dry; in winter, the cold wave is blocked from southward invasion, so that the Hanzhong Basin and Sichuan Basin are less affected by cold air. The rivers south of the Qinling Mountains are not frozen, the vegetation is dominated by evergreen broad-leaved forests, and the soil is more acidic. To the north of the Qinling Mountains is the Loess Plateau. The average temperature in January is below 0°C, the rivers are frozen, the plants are mainly deciduous broad-leaved trees, and the soil is rich in calcium. The Qinling Mountains and the Bailong River Basin still preserve contiguous forests, as well as precious animals and plants. Foping is one of the birthplaces of giant pandas. Walnuts from Shangluo and Angelica from Minxian County are known for their high yields.