Qinling Mountains

Qinling Mountains

Qinling is divided into the narrow sense of Qinling and the broad sense of Qinling. In a narrow sense, the Qinling Mountains are limited to the mountains in the south of Shaanxi Province, between the Weihe River and the Hanjiang River, bounded by the Bahe River and the Danjiang River Valley in the East and the Jialing River in the West

. The Qinling Mountains, in a broad sense, start from Kunlun in the west, pass through Longnan and Shannan in the middle, and reach Hubei Henan Anhui Dabie Mountains in the East and Zhangbaling near Bengbu, which is the watershed of Yangtze River and Yellow River

.

Because the temperature, climate and topography of the north and the south of Qinling Mountains are different, the Qinling Huaihe line has become the most important north-south boundary in China. In winter, Qinling Mountains block the cold wave southward into the South; in summer, it blocks the humid sea breeze into the north. Qinling and Huaihe river basins are the transitional areas between rainy in the South and arid in the north.

Qinling mountain is regarded as the dragon vein of Chinese civilization. Taibai Mountain, the main peak, is 3771.2 meters above sea level and located in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. Qinling is the boundary mountain between Guanzhong Plain and southern Shaanxi.

Overview of mountain system

Characteristics of mountain system

Qinling Mountains in a narrow sense

In a narrow sense, Qinling Mountains lie between 32 ° and 34 ° n, between Guanzhong Plain and Hanjiang Valley in the south. It is the watershed of Jialing River, Luohe River, Weihe River and Hanjiang River. It stretches 400-500 kilometers from east to west and 100-150 kilometers from north to south.

Qinling Mountains in a broad sense

In a broad sense, Qinling Mountains start from Kunlun in the west, pass through Longnan and Shannan in the middle, and reach to Hubei, Henan and Anhui Dabie Mountains in the East and Zhangbaling mountains near Bengbu. Its range includes the north of Minshan Mountain, the south of Gansu and the south of Shaanxi, the area winding in the south of Taohe River and Weihe River, the north of Hanjiang River and Bailong River, the tributary of Jialing River, the east to Funiu Mountain and Xionger mountain in the west of Henan, the mountain range fault in Fangcheng and Nanyang, forming Nanxiang pass, the Tongbai mountain at the junction of Henan and Hubei, the Dabie Mountain at the junction of Henan, Hubei and Anhui, and the trend becomes northwest southeast to Huo mountain in the south of Anhui The area of Jiashan and Shanshan is hilly, and the strike is northeast southwest. In a broad sense, Qinling is the watershed between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. The south of Qinling belongs to subtropical climate, the natural condition is southern type, the North belongs to warm temperate climate, the natural condition is northern type. There are also significant differences in agricultural production characteristics between the north and the south of Qinling Mountains. Therefore, for a long time, people have regarded Qinling Mountains as the geographical boundary between "south" and "North" in China.

Mountain segmentation

Western section

The Qinling mountains can be roughly divided into three sections: the west, the middle and the East. The west section is divided into three branches, the North Branch is Qinling, also known as nanqishan or dashanling; the middle branch is Fengling, with loess accumulation and strong soil erosion; the South Branch is zibaishan, which is called chaiguanling in the northwest of Liuba. The altitude of these mountains is more than 1500 meters, and Zibai mountain is the highest, with an altitude of 2610 meters. The western part of Qinling Mountains is the watershed and birthplace of Qingjiang River and Jialing River, Jialing River left bank tributary and JuShui River trunk, tributary and some tributaries of Bao River.

middle part

The middle part of Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province is called Zhongnan mountain. The main mountains are Sifangtai, Shouyang mountain, Zhongnan mountain and dongguangtu mountain, with an altitude of 2500-3000 meters. It is the birthplace of Fenghe River, Laohe River, Chanhe River, Ziwu River, Xunhe River and Qianjin river. Pingheliang, extending southeast from qinlingliang to Kunlun, has a main peak of Guangdong mountain, with an altitude of 2675 meters. In the valley of the Gouhe River and the shechuan River, there are gudaoling, Haitang mountain and Yangshan, which extend from east to west. The mountains are low and broken, with an altitude of about 1500 meters. They are the main tributaries of the Yuehe River - Ganghe River, Fujia River and Shuhe River, and the birthplace of Chihe River and its tributaries.

Lishan Mountain is a fault block mountain extending from the north foot of the middle Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province. Its main peak is renzongmiao, with an altitude of 1302 meters. Some of the streams from the Lishan mountains become tributaries of the Bahe River, while others flow directly into the Weihe River.

Eastern section

The eastern part of Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province is finger shaped, extending southeast. From the north to the south, they are Taihua mountain, mangling mountain, Liuling mountain, Huling mountain and Xinkailing mountain, with an altitude of 1500-2600 meters; nanluo River, Danjiang River and its tributary Yinhua River are distributed among them, forming a mountain valley terrain with alternating mountains and rivers. The main ridges of the Qinling Mountains are Caoling and Taihua mountain, which are the watershed and source of Danjiang River, nanluo River and mountain streams on the north slope of the eastern part of the Qinling Mountains.

Main peaks

Zhongnan Mountain

The holy land of the mainstream Quanzhen sect of Taoism, also known as Taiyi mountain, Difei mountain, Zhongnan mountain and Zhounan mountain, is a section of the Qinling Mountains. It starts from Meixian County of Baoji City in the West and ends at Lantian County of Xi'an City in the East. It has the reputation of "Fairy capital", "crown of Dongtian" and "the most blessed place in the world".

There is a poem in the book of songs, Qinfeng: "where is Zhongnan, there is a plum". Most of the officials and gentry in Tang dynasty built villas here, among which Wangchuan villa by Wang Wei is the most famous. Most of Wang Wei's beautiful landscape poems describe the scenery here. There are more than 40 temples in the mountain, such as Taiyi palace and Laojun temple built since Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Huashan (Dunwu mountain, Taihua mountain)

It is one of the five famous mountains in China. It is located in Huayin City, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province, 120 kilometers east of Xi'an City, with the highest point of 2160 meters. It is one of the peaks in the eastern section of Qinling Mountains, with five peaks in the south, West, north, East and middle, also known as Taihua mountain. Huashan is famous for its precipitous and precipitous peaks.

Huashan is the holy land of Quanzhen sect. It is said that Lu Dongbin and Liu haichan, the five ancestors of Taoism in quanzhenbei, once practiced here. There are 72 semi suspended caves and more than 20 Taoist temples, among which yuquanyuan, Dulong temple, dongdaoyuan and Zhenyue Palace are listed as the key Taoist temples in China. There are nanshanqu, Jinhua cave, Yuquan cave, riyueyan and other places of interest. It is one of the tourist attractions in Xi'an.

Taibai Mountain

Located in the southeast of Taibai county and Zhouzhi County, the highest peak is 3767 meters away from Sendai, the main peak of Qinling Mountains, one of the highest peaks in the eastern part of Chinese mainland. In Xia and Shang Dynasties, it was called Biwu mountain; in Zhou Dynasty, it was called Taiyi mountain; in historical records, it was called Yueshan mountain; in Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was called Taibai Mountain. The vertical bands of soil, vegetation and climate are complex, with obvious zonation and luxuriant trees. The mountains are high and steep, the valley is deep and narrow, and there are many stone peaks. Over 2500 meters above sea level, it has strong frost weathering, and forms stone river and inverted stone pile landforms at the bottom of gentle slope valley. Paomaliang, which extends southeast from baxiantai, is 3500-3700 meters above sea level, about 6 kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide. It is the remnant part of the Mesozoic Qinling peneplain and the best preserved, largest and highest elevation planation surface in Qinling Mountains. There are some periglacial landforms such as stone sea, stone ring, stone polygon and so on. Taibai Mountain has been affected by Quaternary ancient glaciers for many times. The relics of the ancient glaciers above 3000 meters above sea level are well preserved. There are many forms, such as Jiaofeng, Renji, bingdou, bingdou lake, trough, glacial lake, moraine lake, terminal moraine dike and so on.

Toumaju mountain

Located 36 kilometers north of Fengxian County, the highest point is 2739 meters. It is one of the peaks of Qinling Mountains and the highest point of Fengxian County. It is a rocky mountain with birch forest.

Dai Wangshan

Located in the northeast of Fengxian County and the junction of Baoji City, the highest point is 2598 meters. It is one of the peaks of Qinling Mountains. It is the highest mountain in Baoji City, with birch forest and oak forest. Jialing River originates from the south side of Daiwang mountain.

Zibai mountain (Zibai slope)

Located in the southeast of Fengxian County and Liuba, the highest point is 2610 meters. It is one of the peaks of Qinling Mountains. The mountain extends about 20 kilometers from east to west. It is a rocky mountain. The highest point of Liuba county is pine, oak, lacquer and Poplar Forests, which are mainly distributed in the south slope and the East. The top of the mountain is meadow, and there are ancient karst depressions and funnels.

Yuhuang mountain

Located 20 kilometers northwest of Taibai County, the highest point is 2819 meters. It is one of the peaks of Qinling Mountains and a rocky mountain. There are birch, poplar, lacquer, oak forest, mainly distributed in the South and east slope. The top of the mountain is frozen and weathered strongly, with gravel, high mountains and meadows.

Aoshan

It is located 16 kilometers southeast of Taibai County, with the highest point of 3476 meters. It is one of the peaks of Qinling Mountains and a rocky mountain. There are traces of ancient glaciation. There are birch, spruce and fir forests, which are part of Taibai Mountain Nature Reserve.

Xinglongling

Located at the junction of Taibai County, Zhouzhi County, Foping county and Yang County, the highest point is 2810 meters. It is one of the highlands of Qinling Mountains. It is a rocky mountain with luxuriant trees, mainly birch, spruce and fir.

mountain towering into the sky

Located at the junction of Yangxian County, Chenggu County and Liuba County, the highest point is 2603 meters. It is one of the highlands of Qinling Mountains. It is a rocky mountain with relatively thick trees, mainly pine, birch and poplar.

Guangtou mountain

Located in the southwest of Zhouzhi and at the junction of Foping County, the highest point is 2838 meters. It is one of the highlands of Qinling Mountains. It is a rocky mountain. It is a branch of Hanjiang River, a tributary of liuhuangshui River and Weihe River. Heihe River originates from the north slope of the mountain. The hillside is luxuriant with birch and pine, and the top is meadow.

Qinlingliang

It is located at the junction of Zhouzhi County, Ningshan county and Huxian County, with the highest point of 2822 meters. It is one of the peaks of Qinling Mountains. It is a rocky mountain with lush forest, birch, pine and fir, and the top of the mountain is weathered gravel and shrub meadow.

Donglaojunling

Located 29 kilometers southwest of Zhouzhi County, the highest point is 2557 meters. It is the East Branch of Qinling Taibai Mountain. It is a rocky mountain with dense oak forest.

Chinese PinYin : Qin Ling