Arjin Mountains National Park

A long drive takes you from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to the southeastern extremity of the region, where you are presented with a tremendous expanse of plateau. Bounded on the south by Tibet, by Qinghai Province on the east, and stretching from the south of the Talimu Basin to the Taklamakan Desert, Arjin Mountains National Park is located on the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and covers an area of 4,500,000 hectares, making it the largest national park in China at present, whose most area is covered by desert. The Silk Road, known to the world as an ancient trading route, had passed by its north, and the important town on the Silk Road called the ancient Town of Loulan lies on its northeast.

Far from being a single uniform expanse, this park has an enormous variety of distinctive topographic features including a series of jagged high mountain ranges, snow-capped peaks, deep canyons, wide valleys and seemingly endless desert that are interrupted by stony plateaus, creating a virtually unpopulated wilderness in most of its area, while leaving a small area of few oases or fertile valleys for sparse population and cattle grazing in its north. Ceaseless winds have modeled the surface of the sand into delicate pattern of ripple marks. Crisscrossed by ravines and cut up into jagged pinnacles, the ever-changing landscape is devoid of vegetation in most of the areas. Resting in huge basins, the park is hemmed in by mountain ranges of various heights, ranging from 3,100 meters in valleys in its north up to the Mount Muztag, the highest at 6, 973 meters in its southwest, generally 5,000-6,000 meters in elevation. More than 100 peaks in this park rise in excess of 5,000 meters above sea level, making a formidable terrain.

The billowing sand dunes, looking like the waves on a stormtossed sea, are interrupted by some sparse drought-resistant plants, and are dotted here and there by sink holes and depressions that are made by the infrequent rainfalls and wind erosion. Various landforms created by the past glaciers, such as moraines and cirques, atop the mountains in its south can be spotted from the air. In some places, Karton area for instance, following infrequent rainfalls, carpets of lush green vegetation come to life, anchoring and stabilizing the sand dunes.

Geologically, the plateau where the park is located, was formed by tectonic lifting due to rafting of the Indian peninsula northward into and under Eurasia that began about 120 million years ago in the Mesozoic and continued as a series of upheavals through the Tertiary. Being the furthest north, the park was among the first areas that emerged from the Tethys Sea. As a result of these changes of nature, this park encompasses massive and large fluvial fans and apron deposits. Aeolian deposits in the form of sand dunes and aeolian blankets are also a common sight. Limestone bedrocks extending southeastward contain some karst features including caves, towers and sink holes, which likely were formed about 3 million years ago before the area was lifted to its current altitude, and are now at a high altitude of 5,000 meters.

The climate of the Arjin Mountains National Park is continental, arid and cold. Temperature varies with geographic locations, altitudes and vegetation. The winters are severely cold. The land is disserved by constant and strong winds. Precipitation also varies with altitudes and locations. Total annual precipitation at the lowest altitudes is estimated only at 100-200 millimeters. Precipitation increases with altitudes probably to the limit of vegetation at permanent snowline which is at 5,000-5,500 meters. The northern and the northeastern parts of the park are the driest parts of the park because they are mostly influenced by the climate of the Taklamakan Desert, while the southern part is moister, and the western area is slightly drier than the eastern part. Most rainfall occurs in the summer, and some snow falls in the winter. Spring and fall therefore are dry.

Arjin means "gold" in Uygur language, referring to the gold mine in the snow-covered precipitous and towering peaks, and the glittering sun-light that daubs the peaks gold.