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Tanggula Mountain

The Tanggula Mountain Range stands 5072 meters high at the heart of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, stretches more than 500 kilometers, and makes a 400 kilometers wide valley between the Kunlun Mountain Range and itself. This valley limits the heading of the Tuotuo River (main source of the Yangtze River), the Chumar River (north source of the Yangtze River), the Dangqu River (south source of the Yangtze River), and the Tongtian River, and makes the range of drainage basin of the Yangtze source area.

Tanggula means “Mountains not to be passed by flying eagles” in Tibetan. The mountain pass is the highest point for the train to get over in its entire course of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Here gusty wind churns up large flakes of snow. It is biting cold. The oxygen is 40% less than that at sea level. And this life forbidding area is characterized by range upon range of snowy mountains which convey a supernal, yet mysterious sense.      
Based on the weather conditions and the general environment, the designers have made the train a fully-closed vehicle with an advanced oxygen supply system in both ways of diffusion and distribution. Measures of environment protection are also taken into consideration. Every salutary means conceivable is availed to ensure the greatest comfort of the passengers. Fantastic alpine scenery is outside of windows.
After the train gets over the apex of the Tonglha Mountains Pass, it slides down like a roller coaster onto Chang Tang Grassland where the prefecture seat of Nakqu Prefect is located.

With an average altitude of 4500 meters above sea level, Chang Tang lies in the north of Tibet. Flanked by the Tanggula Mountains and the Nyainqentonglha Mountains, it stretches 1200 kilometers from east to west, 700 kilometers from north to south. Of which, the middle west is a vast expanse of flat land where lakes shimmer and rivers run crisscross. There are also undulating plain of course. While the eastern area has a river valley landform characterized by high mountains and deep valleys. With a weather condition better than that of the Middle West, the eastern area is the only crop production area in the north of Tibet. In addition, it has some forest resources, like shrubbery.The blue sky, white clouds, colorful rainbow, cattle and green grass, all these look like a piece of gorgeous embroidery of interwoven brocade. Unlike the alpine frigid desert steppe at the regions north of the Tanggula Mountains, here grass grows thicker and taller, there being more soil moisture. With the low drifting white clouds over head, the meadow where oxen and sheep stroll merges with the blue sky.