# Qilian County

Qilian County (Chinese: 祁连县, Tibetan: མདོ་ལ་རྫོང་།), in Tibetan Dhola County, is a county of Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. The Haibei Qilian Airport is located in the county.

## History

The history of human activity in the Qilian area can be traced back to the Han dynasty, more than 2,000 years ago. The Qilian County area was inhabited by the Qiang people in ancient times, and was adjacent to the Yuezhi people during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, as well as during the Qin dynasty (circa 2200 B.C.-206 A.D.).
In the sixth year of the Han dynasty (201 AD), the Yuezhi was attacked and invaded by the Xiongnu kings and some of them moved to the Qilian Mountains. names in history are "Lesser Yuezhi".
In the year 121, Huo Qubing went and led his warriors to capture the Qilian Mountains, and the power of the Xiongnu and Yuezhi was greatly reduced in the Qilian Mountains, from then on the Yuezhi in the Qilian Mountains and the Huangshui valley were subservient to the Han. Since then, Han Chinese have also settled in this area.
During the Eastern Han dynasty, the lesser Yuezhi, who lived in the present-day Nongniugoudi area of Qilian County, were influenced to evolve into the "Lushui Hu", and later, due to the influence of Han culture, they gradually integrated into the Han clan during the Northern Wei dynasty.
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded and the Chinese People's Liberation Army was stationed in the "Babao" area. Qilian was liberated and on September 13, 1951, the Qinghai Provincial People's Government changed Qilian County into a city under provincial jurisdiction. In 1952, the Qilian Autonomous Region People's Government was established and in 1980, Qilian County was restored to the People's Government and placed under the jurisdiction of Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture until today.

## Geographical

Qilian County covers an area of 15,700 square kilometers, accounting for 2.05% of the total area of Qinghai Province. Qilian County borders Menyuan Hui Autonomous County to the east, Gungca County and Haiyan County to the south, and Tianjun County to the southwest. To the north and northwest, it borders Jiuquan City and Sunan Yugur Autonomous County and Minle County in Gansu Province.
Qilian County contains a total of seven townships, which are Babao, Zhamashen, Yeniugou, Kekeli, Mole, Duolong, Ebao, and Aru. As well as a ranch in Haibei Prefecture Toller Ranch. The town of Babao is the economic and political center of Qilian County.
Qilian County is named after its location in the Qilian Mountains, "Qilian" means "heavenly mountain" in Xiongnu language, and in ancient times it was the place where the Qiang people gathered.
Qilian County is in the middle part of the Qilian Mountains, the average altitude of 3169m, 4000m altitude above the alpine zone of snow all year round.The elevation of the county town is 2787m.
The average year-round temperature in the county is 1 degree Celsius, the climate type is highland climate, and the annual precipitation is about 270～600. The climate is typical of a Alpine climate. Due to its geographical location, Qilian County is subject to humid air currents from the southeast monsoon in the summer and high pressure from Mongolia and dry and cold air currents from Siberia in the winter, resulting in large temperature differences and low temperatures.
The total number of rivers in the county is 247, the main rivers are Mole River, Black River, Babao River and Tuole River, with an annual runoff of 2.322 billion cubic meters.

## Climate

Climate data for Qilian, elevation 2,787 m (9,144 ft), (1991–2020 normals) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.4 (27.7) | 2.0 (35.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 12.5 (54.5) | 16.2 (61.2) | 19.5 (67.1) | 21.7 (71.1) | 20.9 (69.6) | 17.1 (62.8) | 11.5 (52.7) | 4.9 (40.8) | −1.3 (29.7) | 10.8 (51.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −12.4 (9.7) | −8.2 (17.2) | −2.6 (27.3) | 3.7 (38.7) | 8.0 (46.4) | 11.8 (53.2) | 13.9 (57.0) | 12.9 (55.2) | 8.7 (47.7) | 2.2 (36.0) | −5.2 (22.6) | −11.3 (11.7) | 1.8 (35.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −19.7 (−3.5) | −16.0 (3.2) | −10.0 (14.0) | −3.4 (25.9) | 1.2 (34.2) | 5.3 (41.5) | 7.7 (45.9) | 6.8 (44.2) | 2.9 (37.2) | −4.2 (24.4) | −12.2 (10.0) | −18.3 (−0.9) | −5.0 (23.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 1.3 (0.05) | 1.4 (0.06) | 7.3 (0.29) | 17.2 (0.68) | 51 (2.0) | 72.2 (2.84) | 100 (3.9) | 96.3 (3.79) | 66.7 (2.63) | 15.2 (0.60) | 2.3 (0.09) | 0.4 (0.02) | 431.3 (16.95) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 2.2 | 2.8 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 13.3 | 17.2 | 18.3 | 18.4 | 14.8 | 7.1 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 111 |
| Average snowy days | 3.4 | 4.8 | 9.5 | 9.1 | 5.0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 6.0 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 44.2 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 45 | 42 | 44 | 47 | 53 | 59 | 64 | 67 | 65 | 57 | 48 | 47 | 53 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 218.9 | 208.0 | 235.9 | 246.2 | 254.7 | 238.8 | 241.4 | 236.8 | 220.5 | 245.4 | 232.2 | 220.0 | 2,798.8 |
| Percentage possible sunshine | 71 | 68 | 63 | 62 | 58 | 54 | 54 | 57 | 60 | 72 | 78 | 75 | 64 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||
Climate data for Tuolei, Qilian, elevation 3,367 m (11,047 ft), (1991–2020 normals) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −5.9 (21.4) | −1.7 (28.9) | 3.2 (37.8) | 8.9 (48.0) | 12.5 (54.5) | 16.1 (61.0) | 18.5 (65.3) | 18.1 (64.6) | 14.2 (57.6) | 7.7 (45.9) | 0.8 (33.4) | −4.7 (23.5) | 7.3 (45.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −16.8 (1.8) | −12.2 (10.0) | −6.6 (20.1) | 0.0 (32.0) | 4.7 (40.5) | 8.9 (48.0) | 11.4 (52.5) | 10.6 (51.1) | 5.7 (42.3) | −1.8 (28.8) | −9.6 (14.7) | −15.6 (3.9) | −1.8 (28.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −25.4 (−13.7) | −21.3 (−6.3) | −15.2 (4.6) | −7.9 (17.8) | −2.6 (27.3) | 2.2 (36.0) | 5.2 (41.4) | 4.2 (39.6) | −0.9 (30.4) | −9.0 (15.8) | −17.4 (0.7) | −23.7 (−10.7) | −9.3 (15.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 1.4 (0.06) | 1.2 (0.05) | 3.2 (0.13) | 8.9 (0.35) | 36.9 (1.45) | 66.4 (2.61) | 93.3 (3.67) | 66.5 (2.62) | 34.2 (1.35) | 8.5 (0.33) | 1.4 (0.06) | 0.7 (0.03) | 322.6 (12.71) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 2.3 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 5.8 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 17.4 | 14.8 | 9.8 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 87.3 |
| Average snowy days | 3.1 | 2.8 | 5.0 | 7.9 | 9.4 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 5.1 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 43.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 45 | 40 | 40 | 44 | 51 | 59 | 64 | 64 | 62 | 53 | 49 | 46 | 51 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 225.4 | 214.4 | 248.0 | 262.4 | 276.6 | 257.4 | 256.5 | 256.8 | 247.8 | 263.9 | 236.2 | 223.4 | 2,968.8 |
| Percentage possible sunshine | 74 | 70 | 66 | 66 | 62 | 58 | 57 | 62 | 67 | 77 | 79 | 77 | 68 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||
Climate data for Yeniugou, Qilian, elevation 3,314 m (10,873 ft), (1991–2020 normals) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −5.1 (22.8) | −1.3 (29.7) | 3.3 (37.9) | 8.5 (47.3) | 11.8 (53.2) | 15.1 (59.2) | 17.4 (63.3) | 16.9 (62.4) | 13.3 (55.9) | 7.4 (45.3) | 1.2 (34.2) | −3.7 (25.3) | 7.1 (44.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −16.3 (2.7) | −12.4 (9.7) | −6.9 (19.6) | −0.7 (30.7) | 3.7 (38.7) | 7.7 (45.9) | 10.2 (50.4) | 9.3 (48.7) | 5.1 (41.2) | −2.0 (28.4) | −9.8 (14.4) | −15.3 (4.5) | −2.3 (27.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −24.8 (−12.6) | −21.6 (−6.9) | −15.4 (4.3) | −8.1 (17.4) | −2.9 (26.8) | 1.4 (34.5) | 4.2 (39.6) | 3.5 (38.3) | −0.6 (30.9) | −8.7 (16.3) | −17.7 (0.1) | −23.4 (−10.1) | −9.5 (14.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 1.9 (0.07) | 2.8 (0.11) | 9.0 (0.35) | 16.9 (0.67) | 44.7 (1.76) | 74.5 (2.93) | 114.8 (4.52) | 98.4 (3.87) | 59.8 (2.35) | 15.5 (0.61) | 2.9 (0.11) | 0.8 (0.03) | 442 (17.38) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 3.2 | 3.9 | 7.5 | 9.1 | 14.3 | 17.5 | 20.4 | 19.5 | 14.8 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 121.9 |
| Average snowy days | 4.6 | 5.8 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 12.4 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 5.1 | 8.6 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 68.5 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 50 | 47 | 48 | 52 | 59 | 66 | 71 | 73 | 71 | 63 | 54 | 50 | 59 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 209.1 | 206.4 | 229.9 | 238.4 | 239.4 | 216.6 | 218.8 | 220.2 | 203.4 | 240.2 | 222.8 | 207.4 | 2,652.6 |
| Percentage possible sunshine | 68 | 67 | 62 | 60 | 54 | 49 | 49 | 53 | 55 | 71 | 75 | 71 | 61 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## Administrative divisions

Qilian County is made up of 3 towns and 4 townships:
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Tibetan | Wylie | Administrative division code |
| Towns ||||||
| Babao Town (Zünmoxong Town) | 八宝镇 | Bābǎo Zhèn | བཙུན་མོ་གཞོང་གྲོང་རྡལ། | btsun mo gzhong grong rdal | 632222100 |
| Obo Town (Karmar Town, Ebao Town) | 峨堡镇 | Ébǎo Zhèn | མཁར་དམར་གྲོང་རྡལ། | mkhar dmar grong rdal | 632222101 |
| Muri Town (Mole Town) | 默勒镇 | Mòlè Zhèn | མུ་རི་གྲོང་རྡལ། | mu ri grong rdal | 632222102 |
| Townships ||||||
| Zhamashi Township (Zamar Township) | 扎麻什乡 | Zhāmáshí Xiāng | རྫ་དམར་ཞང་། | rdza dmar zhang | 632222200 |
| Arig Township (Arou Township, or Aruk Township) | 阿柔乡 | Āróu Xiāng | ཨ་རིག་ཞང་། | a rig zhang | 632222201 |
| Yeniugou Township (Zhonglung Township, or Dronglong Village) | 野牛沟乡 | Yěniúgōu Xiāng | འབྲོང་ལུང་ཞང་། | 'brong lung zhang | 632222202 |
| Yanglung Township (Yanglong Township) | 央隆乡 | Yānglóng Xiāng | གཡང་ལུང་ཡུལ་ཚོ། | g.yang lung yul tsho | 632222203 |

## Population

Qilian County has a total population of 43,700 people, Qilian County is inhabited by ethnic minorities, with about 15 ethnic groups living here, mainly Tibetan, Hui, Han, Monguor, Gaoshan people, Zhuang and Korean.The main religions spread in Qilian area are Tibetan Buddhism and Islam, Tibetans are mainly concentrated in arou, ebao, yeniugou, kekeli, Mongolians mainly live in mole and duolong, Hui are concentrated in Babaoxiang and the county.

## Animal

There are more than 20 species of wild animals found in Qilian County, and according to statistics, there are about 20,000 of them, mainly classified as rare and protected animals, ornamental animals, meat animals, and fur animals, and wild animals are mainly found in Yeniugou, Kokoli yoroulongwa, jiadao, etc.
| Moschus | Mammals, deer family, secrete musk, musk is a spice, Moschus does not live in herds, herbivores, feed on moss, weeds, or grasses， It can produce a secretion called musk, which is a valuable herb in Chinese medicine. |
| Gymnocypris chilianensis | Produced in the Mole River, Babao River, Black River, mainly, to feed on aquatic insects, is a cold water freshwater fish. |
| Pseudois nayaur | It is a phytophagous mountain mammal, belonging to the bovine family, Good at jumping, quick to move, Pseudois nayaur edible. |
| Ovis ammon | Brownish-gray in color, with powerful limbs, it is found in the foothills of the highlands, migrating with the seasons, living and feeding in the grasslands and valleys in winter, and inhabiting the mountains in summer. |
| Grus nigricollis | A large wading bird with silvery gray plumage, it is one of the most recently discovered cranes in the world and is a protected species，Eat fish and shrimp in the water. |
| Aquila rapax nipalensis | Fierce, preys on small animals and birds, active during the day, inhabits plains and mountain forests |

### Qilian Deer Farm

Qilian Deer Farm is the largest semi-wild deer breeding base in Asia，Qilian Deer Farm covers an area of about 60,000 acres, with an average altitude of 3,500 meters, Qilian Deer Farm is located in the Oil Gourd Wildlife Nature Reserve, 40 kilometers from Qilian County, a local tourist attraction, established in 1958, at the beginning of the establishment, the deer farm only local Cervus elaphus and white-lipped deer, in 1964 the introduction of the Cervus nippon.

## Natural resources

There are 41 kinds of mineral resources in Qilian County, among which the main minerals are coal, asbestos, alluvial gold, etc.
There are 369 species of plants in Qilian County, including those with medicinal value, such as Saussurea involucrata, cordyceps, rhubarb, bupleurum, astragalus,
| Altitude/m | plant cover |
| 2769～2849 | Hordeum vulgare，Brassicaca mpestris， Stipa purpurea，Kobresia myosuroides Descurainia sophia，Ranunculus tanguticus，Dracocephalum heterophyl-lum ，Pedicularis verticillata ，Taraxacum Gueldenstaedtia，Medicago. |
| 2946～ 2997 | Agropyron cristatum, Poa annua, Dracocephalum heterophyl‐ lum, Ajuga lupulina, Ranunculus tanguticus. |
| 3062～3168 | Potentilla fruticosa，Myricaria paniculata，Polygo‐ num viviparum Polygonum macrophyllum Urtica hyperborea |
| 3435～3889 | Urtica hyperborea，Polygonum macrophyllum，Polygo‐ num viviparum，Myricaria paniculata，Salix cupularis，Potentilla fruticosa，Sibiraea angustata，Caragana jubata，Oxyt‐ ropis |
| 2931～3009 | Sabina przewalskii，Picea crassifolia，Dracocephalum heterophyl‐ lum，Taraxacum mongolicum，Agropyron cristatum |