China's mountainous areas are vast, with many tall and majestic-mountains. The huge rolling mountains form the backbones of China's terrain and topography.
The Himalayas
The Himalayas are the highest mountain in the world, consisting of many parallel ranges. The Himalayan range is located on the Chinese border next to India and Nepal, east to the big bend of the Yarlung Zangbo River, west to the Pamir Plateau, with a total length of more than 2,400 kilometers, and with an average altitude of more than 6,000 meters. Qomolangma, the mail; peak, is on the border between China and Nepal. It is 8,844.43 meters above sea level and is the highest mountain in the world. A Tang Dynasty Tibetan Buddhist scripture recorded that the Tibetan king used this as a place to raise a hundred birds. Legend has it that a goddess lives here, known as "Qomolangma", which means “Mother Earth” in Tibetan. The world’s highest peak is like a goddess standing tall and blessing kind people.
How were the Himalayas formed? Tens of millions of years ago, this area was a sea. Over time, the Indian Ocean plate slowly squeezed the Asian continent to the south, and the north part of the crust rose upwards, and the overlapping parts grew taller to a height of several kilometers and formed the current "Roof of the World", the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The south side also arched quickly, creating the tall Himalayas. What's even more interesting is that because the Himalayas are one of the youngest mountains in the world, they are still rising!
Due to the high altitude, the Himalayas are not rich in food and even the air is very thin. But it has the largest area of ice and snow outside of the North and South Poles. For thousands of years, the glaciers formed by the accumulation of snow slowly descended along the valleys and hillsides, and carved out the shape of the mountain like a knife. The Himalayas are not the same from the north to the south. The mountains block the wind from the sea, which brings in a lot of rain. Therefore, the south slope is lush and green, while the north slope has less rainfall with fewer plants. As the height of the mountains increases, the natural scenery of the high mountains also changes, forming a natural landscape with obvious vertical changes. This complex geological structure has nurtured some special flora and fauna to live here.
The Himalayas are like high walls, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is hiding behind it. The people of all ethnic groups 〇n the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau rely on the mountains to live a peaceful life. People love this mountain^ especially the rivers that have been the water source for thousands of years. These dragon-like rivers flow eastward and become the source of life for more than one billion people in China. China's first and second largest rivers — the Yangtze River and the Yellow River — originate here. In addition to providing water, the rivers here have enormous hydropower potential to provide electricity to the central and eastern regions.
Since the 20th century, many Chinese and foreign mountain climbers have come to the Himalayas to explore and study. The Himalayas are like growing children, growing up slowly in the world's eyes, and looking forward to discovering the secrets of growing up.
Cultural Notes
Yarlung Zangbo River
It is one of the highest rivers in China, its upper reaches in the alpine region provide a natural animal paradise; the river flows to the middle and narrows; then it suddenly turns directions, forming the world’s largest canyon — the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon. The canyon is deep and dangerous, but the scenery is beautiful.