Interesting spot on the maps, virtual sign seeing on the net.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Hoh Xil (可可西里)


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Hoh Xil [Mongolian: Khökh shil (Russian transcription), Хөхшил Blue ridge; Chinese: 可可西里; pinyin: Kěkěxīlǐ; Tibetan transcription from Mongolian ཁུ་ཁུ་ཞིལ།, Tibetan original name: ཨ་ཆེན་གངས་རྒྱལ།།, literally Lord of 10 thousands of mountains, Chinese: 阿卿贡嘉; pinyin: Ā Qīng Gòng Jiā] is an isolated region in the northwestern part of the Tibetan plateau in China. It is China's least and the world's third-least populated area.

The region covers 83,000 square kilometres at an average elevation of 4,800 meters, between the Tanggula and Kunlun mountain chains in the border areas of Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Northwest China's Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It is one of the major headwater sources of the Yangtze River. 45,000 square kilometres, at an average elevation of 4,600 metres, were made into a national nature reserve in 1995. The Qingzang railway runs along the eastern boundary of the reserve [1].

Despite the harsh climate, Hoh Xil is home to more than 230 species of wild animals, 20 of which are under state protection, including the wild yak, wild donkey, white-lip deer, brown bear and the endangered Tibetan antelope or chiru.
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The hitherto little-known region, as well the struggling Tibetan antelope, became household names in China upon the release of the film Kekexili: Mountain Patrol in 2004.

Hoh Xil@Wikipedia