Kunlun Mountains

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Kunlun Mountains (Kūnlún Shān)
Range
View of Western Kunlun Shan from the Tibet-Xinjiang highway
Country	China
Region	Tibet

Highest point	Kunlun Goddess
- elevation	7,167 m (23,514 ft)

Karakash River in the Western Kunlun Shan, seen from the Tibet-Xinjiang highway

Peak in Kunlun range

The Kunlun Mountains (simplified Chinese: 昆仑山; traditional Chinese: 崑崙山; pinyin: Kūnlún Shān) is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km.

The Kunlun runs eastwards along the northern part of the Tibetan plateau to form the border range of northern Tibet. It stretches along the southern edge of what is now called the Tarim Basin, the infamous Takla Makan or "sand-buried houses" desert, and the Gobi desert. A number of important rivers flow from it including the Karakash River ('Black Jade River') and the Yurungkash River ('White Jade River'), which flow through the Khotan Oasis into the Taklamakan Desert.

The highest mountain of the Kunlun Shan is the Kunlun Goddess (7,167 m) in the Keriya area. The Arka Tagh is in the centre of the Kunlun Shan; its highest point is Ulugh Muztagh (6,973 m, definitely not 7,723 m). Some authorities claim that the Kunlun extends north westwards as far as Kongur Tagh (7,649 m) and the famous Muztagh Ata (7,546 m). But these mountains are physically much more closely linked to the Pamir group (ancient Mount Imeon).

Bayan Har Mountains, a southern branch of the Kunlun Mountains, forms the watershed between the catchment basins of China's two longest rivers, the Yangtze River and the Huang He.

The mountain range formed at the northern edges of the Cimmerian Plate during its collision, in the Late Triassic, with Siberia, which resulted in the closing of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean.

[edit] Mythology

The Kunlun mountains are well known in and are believed to be Taoist paradise. The first to visit this paradise was, according to the legends, King Mu (976-922 BCE) of the Zhou Dynasty. He supposedly discovered there the Jade Palace of Huang-Di, the mythical Yellow Emperor and originator of Chinese culture, and met Hsi Wang Mu (Xi Wang Mu) , the 'Spirit Mother of the West' usually called the 'Queen Mother of the West', who was the object of an ancient religious cult which reached its peak in the Han Dynasty, also had her mythical abode in these mountains. The story has interesting parallels with the story of the meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (ca 950 BCE).^{[citation needed]}