Glaciers in the Qilian Mountains Allure Tourists

The activities of glaciers in the quaternary period about 2 million years ago produced a large number of modern glaciers in China’s west. A survey indicates that there are altogether 46，298 glaciers in China， ranking China behind Canada， America and Russia in terms of the number of glaciers. Most glaciers in China grew in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the mountains near the deserts in the west. Xinjiang， Gansu and Qinghai in northwestern China has 52% of the glaciers. Glaciers， deserts and grasslands are the major scenes in China’s northwest.

The Qilian Mountains stretch about 1，000 kilometers in parallel with the Hexi Corridor. Most of the peaks in the mountain range stand at more than 3，000 meters above sea level， including 26 peaks towering more than 5，000 meters above sea level. The Qilian Mountains has 3，066 glaciers occupying an area of 2，062 square kilometers. The plateau glaciers serve as a reservoir with 114.5 billion cubic meters of water.

The Hexi Corridor is a flourishing human habitat thanks to the glaciers of the Qilian Mountains where three river systems start. The three river systems include altogether 56 rivers with an annual run-off of 7.26 billion cubic meters of water. The river systems sustain 4.4 million people， 7.5 million livestock， 700，000-hectare cultivated land and 1.2 million-hectare arable land， and all the local industries. Experts estimate that the glaciers of the Qilian Mountains create a value of 1.5 billion yuan a year in terms of social and economic benefit.

Today， the glaciers in Qilian Mountains are attractive tourism destinations. Tiger Valley presents a cluster of 639 glaciers. The valley is flanked by high peaks on both sides， but the valley itself is very flat and free of impact of earthquakes， snow avalanches， landslides and mud-rock flows. Experts say that the valley has the best potentialities to build a road for tourism. Walk about 30 minutes into the valley and you see the transparent Dream Glacier， a valley-type glacier that forks into two branches. Looking from afar， the two-part glacier resembles two girls sleeping. Dream Glacier is the most famous of the 639 glaciers.

The surface of the glacier is most smooth. Tourists can walk all the way to the end of the glacier and even scale the peak at 5，483 meters. A panoramic view from the vantage point at the top end of the glacier is breathtaking. Precipitous snow-capped peaks on both sides tower in sharp contrast to the deep valley. Crystal ice form into masses of various sizes and shapes. The color and texture of the glacier are fascinating.

The full-scale development of this glacier tourism project is now still on the drawing board. Experts are most upbeat about the potentialities of the Dream Glacier， a continental valley-type glacier. It is the largest glacier under tourism development in China， it is tourist-friendly， and it is of easy access to Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway on the north and Dunhuang Airport on the west. Some developers speculate that the Dream Glacier and Dunhuang can form a giant tourism business and pull in large numbers of tourists.

116 kilometers south of Jiayuguan City in Gansu Province lies July 1 Glacier， named after its discovery on July 1， 1958. The valley presents a panorama more than the ice itself. In summer and early autumn， waterfalls cascade down the tip-end of the glacier， splashing and delivering thundering noises when waterfalls hit the bottom. The verdant grasslands way down the glacier are paradise for herds of cattle and sheep. Yurts can be seen here and there across the undulating pasturelands. Today， July 1 Glacier is a major tourism attraction of Jiayuguan City. At the foot of the glacier is a cluster of buildings at 3，700 meters above sea level where tourists can stay for nights. Exploring the glacier can also be a one-day jaunt from Jiayuguan in summertime. Take a taxi at seven in the morning and you can get back to Jiayuguan at night. The time between will be long enough for you to have a very good time at the glacier.

In recent decades， glaciers have been withdrawing. Nature is a big cause behind the withdrawal， but human factors have also played a big part. Population growth， deforestation， digging herbs in damaging ways， herding too many sheep and cattle， all this has done damages to the ecology of glacier areas in the Qilian Mountains.

Scientists call for the protection of glaciers in Qilian Mountains. As glaciers are the lifeline of the Hexi Corridor， protecting glaciers is protecting the corridor itself. Reforestation， according to Yao Tandong， an academician of China Academy of Sciences， is not the only solution to the recovery of local ecology. Some areas are fit for trees， but some are only fit for grass. Planting trees in areas fit only for grass can be damaging to local ecology.□