Qinling

Qinling
Highest point
Peak	Mount Taibai
Elevation	3,767 m (12,359 ft)
Coordinates	33°57′48″N 107°37′05″E / 33.96333°N 107.61806°E / 33.96333; 107.61806
Naming
Language of name
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	秦嶺
Simplified Chinese	秦岭
Literal meaning	Qin Peak(s)
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qínlǐng Wade–Giles Chʻin2 Ling3
Former name is Southern Mountains
Chinese	南山
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Nánshān Wade–Giles Nan-shan
Geography
Qinling Show map of Northern China Qinling Show map of China
Country	China
Region	Southern Shaanxi Province

The Qinling (Chinese: 秦岭) or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Yellow River systems, providing a natural boundary between North and South China and support a huge variety of plant and wildlife, some of which is found nowhere else on earth.

To the north is the densely populated Wei River valley, an ancient center of Chinese civilization. To the south is the Han River valley. To the west is the line of mountains along the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. To the east are the lower Funiu and Dabie Mountains, which rise out of the coastal plain.

The northern side of the range is prone to hot weather, the rain shadow cast by the physical barrier of the mountains dictating that the land to the north has a semi-arid climate, and is consequently somewhat impoverished in regard to fertility and species diversity.^[1] Furthermore, the mountains have also acted in the past as a natural defense against nomadic invasions from the north, as only four passes cross the mountains. In the late 1990s a railway tunnel and a spiral were completed, thereby easing travel across the range.^[2]

The highest mountain in the range is Mount Taibai at 3,767 meters (12,359 ft), which is about 100 kilometers (62 mi) west of the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an.^[3] Three culturally significant peaks in the range are Mount Hua (2,155 meters or 7,070 feet), Mount Li (1,302 meters or 4,272 feet), and Mount Maiji (1,742 meters or 5,715 feet).