View source for Hoh Xil

{{Short description|Plateau in China}}
{{redirect|Kekexili|the film|Kekexili: Mountain Patrol}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS           = Qinghai Hoh Xil
| image         = Hoh Xil.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| caption       = Hoh Xil in August
| location      = [[Qinghai]]
| criteria      = {{UNESCO WHS type|(vii)(x)}}(vii)(x)
| ID            = 1540
| coordinates   = {{coord|35|22|49|N|92|26|21|E|display=it}}
| year          = 2017
| area          = {{convert|3,735,632|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| buffer_zone   = {{convert|2,290,904|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| locmapin      = China Qinghai
| map_caption   = Location in Qinghai
}}
{{Infobox Chinese|pic=|piccap=|order=st|t={{linktext|可可西里}}|t2=阿卿貢嘉|s={{linktext|可可西里}}|s2=阿卿贡嘉|p=Kěkěxīlǐ|altname=Tibetan-origin name|p2=Āqīnggòngjiā|l=Blue ridge (in [[Mongolic languages|Mongolic]])|l2=Lord of ten thousand mountains|w=K'e<sup>3</sup>k'e<sup>3</sup>hsi<sup>1</sup>li<sup>3</sup>|w2=A<sup>1</sup>ch'ing<sup>1</sup>kung<sup>4</sup>chia<sup>1</sup>|mi={{IPAc-cmn|k|e|3|k|e|3|x|i|1|l|i|3}}|mi2={{IPAc-cmn|a|1|q|ing|1|g|ong|4|j|ia|1}}|mon=Хөх шил|mong={{linktext|ᠬᠥᠬᠡ ᠰᠢᠯᠢ}}|monr=Köke sil|tib=ཧོ་ཧོ་ཞི་ལི<br />ཨ་ཆེན་གངས་རྒྱབ|wylie=ho ho zhi li<br />a chen gangs rgyab|lhasa={{IPA|bo|ho˥˥.ˌho.ɕi˩˨.ˈli<br />a˥˥.ˌt͡ɕʰẽː.kaŋ˩˧˨.ˈɟʌ(p̚)ˀ|}}|zwpy=Hohoxili<br />Aqênganggyab|thdl=Hohozhili<br />Achenganggyap}}

'''Hoh Xil''' or '''Kekexili''' ([[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] for "Blue Ridge", also '''Aqênganggyai''' for "Lord of Ten Thousand Mountains"), is an isolated region in the northeastern part of [[Qinghai-Tibet Plateau]]. On July 7, 2017, the Hoh Xil in [[Qinghai]] was listed among the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]s as "the largest and highest [[plateau]] in the world".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1540/|title=Qinghai Hoh Xil}}</ref>

==Geography==
The region covers 83,000 square kilometres at an average elevation of 4,800 metres above sea level, stretches in the east–west direction between the [[Tanggula]] and [[Kunlun Mountains|Kunlun]] mountain chains in the border areas of southwest China's [[Tibet Autonomous Region]], northwest China's [[Qinghai]] Province and China's [[Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]]. The southeastern part of the Hoh Xil, drained by the [[Chumar River]] ({{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|楚瑪爾河}}}}), is one of the major [[headwater]] sources of the [[Yangtze River]]. The rest of the region is [[endorheic]], with drainage to numerous isolated lakes; this area is sometimes described by hydrologists as the "Hoh Xil lake district".<ref>{{citation
|first=Mianping |last=Zheng|publisher=Springer |year=1997|isbn=0-7923-4098-1
|title=An introduction to saline lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
|series=Volume 76 of Monographiae biologicae
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NvD-RMX58cIC&pg=PA21
|page=21}}</ref> 45,000 square kilometres of the Hoh Xil region, at an average elevation of 4,600 metres, were designated a national [[nature reserve]] in 1995. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is encompassed of the western half of [[Zhidoi County]] and western part of [[Qumarlêb County]] in [[Qinghai]]. [[Bukadaban Feng]] is considered part of Hoh Xil.<ref name="kkxl">{{cite web|url=http://zt.gog.cn/system/2009/06/25/010591925.shtml |script-title=zh:可可西里：与天相接的生命守护人|trans-title=Hoh Xil: Ecological Preservation Volunteers who Touch the Sky |website=zt.gog.cn |language = zh-hans |quote="{{lang|zh-hans|可可西里地区山峦绵延起伏，{...}有青海第一高峰布喀达板峰}}"|date=|accessdate=23 April 2018}}</ref>

==Geology==
[[File:NI-46-2.jpg|left|thumb]]
Hoh Xil is volcanic. The surrounding [[Northern Tibet volcanic field]] contains a number of late-Cenozoic volcanoes. Several Hawaiian-style volcanoes are present in this area. Bamaoqiongzong covers an area of 300&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and contains a perfectly preserved edifice NE of the summit and a lava flow that overlies Quaternary lake deposits . The Bamaoqiongzong area contains peralkaline phonolitic and foiditic rocks. Yongbohu contains five dacitic, trachyandesitic and andesitic vents. Qiangbaqian covers a broad area along the southern border of the [[Kunlun Mountains|Kunlun]] mountain range. A cone in the Kekexili caldera, once thought to be observed in eruption on a satellite photo in 1973, is now considered not to have been historically active.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=304040|title = Global Volcanism Program &#124; Unnamed}}</ref><ref name="GVP">{{Cite GVP|vn=304040|name=Unnamed}}</ref>[https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn%3D304040&vtab%3DSubfeatures Synonyms & Subfeatures]

==Wildlife==
Despite the harsh climate, Hoh Xil is home to more than 230 species of wild animals, 20 of which are under Chinese state protection, including the [[wild yak]], [[Kiang|wild donkey]], [[Thorold's deer|white-lip deer]], [[brown bear]] and the endangered [[Tibetan antelope]] or ''chiru''. The abundant [[plateau pika]], a small burrowing rodent, is the main food of the region's brown bears; the bears also feed on the yak and antelope.<ref>Xu Aichun, Jiang Zhigang, Li Chunwang, Guo Jixun, Wu Guosheng, Cai Ping, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3873090 Summer Food Habits of Brown Bears in Kekexili Nature Reserve, Qinghai: Tibetan Plateau, China]". ''Ursus'', Vol. 17, No. 2 (2006), pp. 132-137</ref> The hitherto little-known region, as well as the struggling Tibetan antelope, or ''chiru'', became household names in China upon the release of the film ''[[Kekexili: Mountain Patrol]]'' in 2004. Zhuonai Lake ({{lang|zh|[[:zh:卓乃湖|卓乃湖]]}}) in Hoh Xil is known as a gathering place for the Tibetan antelope.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.qhnews.com/kkxl/system/2011/07/13/010410737.shtml | title=探秘可可西里产房 --可可西里 }}</ref>

==Transportation==
The [[Qingzang Railway]] and [[China National Highway 109]] run along the eastern boundary of the reserve.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/ptr/Qingzang-Railway-prt.htm |title=Environmental Protection Along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway |access-date=2005-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050611085405/http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/ptr/Qingzang-Railway-prt.htm |archive-date=2005-06-11 }}</ref> The [[Fenghuoshan Tunnel]], presently the world's highest railway tunnel (1338 m long, with entrances located at an elevation of 4905 metres above sea level), was constructed in the area.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==See also==
* [[Changtang]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050204042705/http://www.kekexili.com/english/ Save the Chiru]
* [http://english.enorth.com.cn/kekexili/kekexili.htm Kekexili on enorth.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003748/http://english.enorth.com.cn/kekexili/kekexili.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}
* [https://archive.today/20130115232122/http://english.cri.cn/4026/2008/06/03/164@365041.htm A Journey to Hoh Xil--A Diary of an Environmental Volunteer]

{{World Heritage Sites in China}}

[[Category:Geography of Qinghai]]
[[Category:Geography of Tibet]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in China]]

[[ru:Кукушили]]