Altun Shan

The Altyn-Tagh forms a boundary between the Tarim Basin and the Tibetan Plateau. Its eastern reaches separate Qinghai from Xinjiang and Gansu. Near the eastern end of the range, routes leaving the Hexi Corridor led towards the northern and southern margins of the Tarim Basin. The mountains helped define the difficult southern edge of that wider network of oasis routes.

The range also separates different dry basins. To its west and south, the Altyn-Tagh helps enclose the Qaidam Basin and the V-shaped endorheic country shared with the Kunlun. Farther east it divides the western side of Qaidam from the Kumtagh Desert. Its profile changes repeatedly: rugged snowy peaks in the southwest, average elevations near 4,000 metres in the middle, and renewed ranges around 5,000 metres in the east.

Rivers are few in this dry mountain wall. Small western streams descend toward desert basins or Lake Ayakkum, while much of the range remains without surface water. The result is a high barrier crossed through scattered passes rather than a single corridor.