Amnye Machen

Amnye Machen rises above Golog in southeastern Qinghai as the highest peak of the mountain range bearing its name. The massif is an eastern extension of the Kunlun Mountains and runs from northwest to southeast through Golog and adjacent parts of Hainan, reaching toward Gannan in Gansu. High ridges, exposed slopes and thin air give the range an austere setting. In Tibetan Buddhism it is revered as the home of Machen Pomra, the chief indigenous deity of Amdo. The mountain is inseparable from the course of the Yellow River.

The river travels for hundreds of kilometres along the southwest side of the range through Golog before turning nearly 180 degrees near the borders of Gansu and Sichuan. It then passes along the northeast side and flows northwest through other parts of northeastern Qinghai. The ridge thus helps define one of the great bends of the river, joining sacred geography to the wider hydrology of the high plateau. Pilgrimage gave the range a lasting place in communal life.

The peak itself was estimated at 6,282 metres, but knowledge of it reached wider audiences gradually.