Kun Lun

Kun Lun, meaning `the South', in the language of Hotan on the ancient Silk Road, extends 2,500 km from the Pamir to the Sichuan highlands. The main range, exceeding 6,000m, encloses the Tibetan plateau from the north. Its eastern extremity, Qin Ling, marks a climatic divide between the arid north and humid south. West of Qin Ling, the range system broadens to enclose the Qaidam basin in Qinghai with two ranges. The northern one, the Qilian Shan, continues west and converges on the main range as the Altun Shan. The southern one, between the Tibetan plateau and Qaidam basin, is represented by the Anyemaqen, Burhan Budai, and Ho Xil sections culminating in Muztag Feng (6,973m). It then extends west as a single range separating the Tibetan plateau to the south and the Tarim basin to the north. The highest peak in the range, Mount Kongur (7,649m), lies in Tibet. The Yarkand River that drains Sinkiang (The New Frontier) has its source south of the range, and it turns north around the mountain complex where the Kun Lun, Karakoram, and Pamir meet. The Kun Lun rises above desolate deserts, yet its glaciers and snows feed several major rivers such as the Huang He, the Mekong, and the Yangtze. The climate is arid with mean annual precipitation ranging from 30-60mm to 100-300mm on higher slopes. The general pattern of land use is oasis agriculture below 1,500 m, farming and winter grazing at 2,000-3,000 m, and summer grazing at 3,000-4,200m (Zhang 1995).

Box 2
Mountains and Minorities in China

© D. Miller

11. Tibetan Nomads

Nearly two-thirds of China's landmass of 9.6 million sq km is made up of mountains and plateaus of considerable elevation. These highlands, located mostly in interior border areas, are the habitat of 55 designated minority nationalities. Their total population of 91 million account for 8 per cent of China's national population. Of these, 18 ethnic groups exceed a population of a million each with the Zhuang being the largest. The majority of larger groups are sedentary farmers. Fifteen groups range from 100,000 to 700,000 in population size. Another 16 groups have a population of 10,000 to 100,000. The last six groups with populations of less than 10,000 are mainly shifting cultivators or herders (Plate 11).

The 55 minority nationalities represent eight language families. Fourteen nationalities with the Sino-Tibetan language family constitute the largest group with 37.4 per cent of the total minority population (Table below). They are localised mostly in the south-eastern region. The second largest population group, 16 with the Tibeto-Burman language family, are from the west and south. The Altaic group has 13 nationalities from the north-east, while the Turkic group has 6 nationalities from the north-west. The rest are Arabic and Slavonic from the north-west and Austro-Asiatic from the south.

In regional distribution, the highlands of Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan converging on the Hengduan Ranges have a concentration of 22 national minorities. Ethnic diversity is most pronounced in Yunnan province from whence ethnic group have also spilled-over into Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and the highlands of Vietnam. These are mostly of Sino-Tibetan and Tibeto-Burman language groups. Xinkiang with the Altai, Pamir, and Tien Shan Ranges and Gansu with the Qin Ling Shan in the north-west have 14 nationalities. The majority of these belong to the Turkic language group. The southern hills of Guizhou, Guangsi, and Kiangsi include 12 nationalities of the Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic language groups. Inner Mongolia and Heilungkiang across the Great Khingan are the home of seven nationalities that belong to the Altaic language group.

The livelihood pattern of national minorities has evolved according to the resource base of their habitat. These are predominantly livestock herding in the north, shifting cultivation in the south-west, and sedentary agriculture in the south. In the latter region, rice is the main crop with tea growing among nationalities such as the Blang, De'ang, Hani, Jinuo, and She. Other specialist groups are the Doxiang, Jingpo, Salar, and Uygur in horticulture and the Hui and Tartar in trade.

Source: Appendix II