▲ Lengbug day, the main peak of the Ganges Mountains. Photo/Visual China
Anyone who has seen "No See, No Dispersion" knows that Uncle Ge Youge put forward a bold idea in the movie - to explode a hole in the Himalayas and bring in the warm wind of the Indian Ocean.
Not to mention that it is not feasible to blow up the Himalayas, even if you blow them up, the warm and humid air currents still can't come in, because in the northern part of the Himalayas, there is a huge mountain range parallel to the Ganges.
The Ganges Mountains... Who is it? Where is it? Even if you haven't heard of the name, you must know its main peak, the famous sacred mountain Kailash. The Ganges Mountains are a highland giant who has been living in the "shadow" of the Himalayas and has been delayed by kailash's daimyo.
01. The center of the world
As the roof of the world, the most important thing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the mountain. The Ganges Mountains, on the west side of the Saser Ridge, face the Karakoram Mountains, extend eastward to the southwest of Namtso, separated from the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains by a Lhasa.
▲ Schematic map of the location of the Ganges Mountains. Cartography/Monk
Although the Himalayas are not famous, the Ganges are actually the big brother of the Himalayas. About 80 million years ago, at the end of the Yanshan Movement, the Ganges Mountains were folded and broken, becoming part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Himalayas, which sit to the south of it, slowly emerged from the sea 30 million years ago.
Ganges, is a compound word of the Tibetan word Forg-Hsiung, meaning snowy landscape god. Snow and water are the source of civilization, especially at the feet of the main peak, Kailash.
▲ Kailash has more snow and ice on the sunny side, but less snow in the shade, which is quite peculiar. Photo/Visual China
The Shiquan River (Senge Tsangpo) on the northern slope of Kailash is the main source of the Indus River; the Xiangquan River (Langchen Zangpo) flowing from the southern slope is also the source of the Indus River; the Maquan River (Dacho Zangpo) flowing from the eastern slope is the source of the Brahmaputra; and the Peacock River (Majia Tsangpo) flowing from the southern slope is the upper reaches of the Gogra River, a tributary of the Ganges. The river has given birth to splendid ancient civilizations on both sides: the ancient Zhang-zhung civilization, the Tibetan civilization, the ancient Indus river civilization, the Ganges river civilization...
▲ The river at the foot of Mount Kailash. Photography / Xiong Wei
Water gives birth to civilization, and rivers are the passages between civilizations, and in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region, these passages are particularly convenient, without which caravans and pilgrims from India and Central Asia would have to cross towering passes when they enter Tibet. After arriving in Kailash, head east along the Brahmaputra To reach Shigatse and then to Lhasa.
▲ Kailash's disciples of the Mountain. Figure/Figureworm Creative
The southern foothills of the Ganges Mountains are a highway connecting Tibet and beyond, and Kailash is the crossroads on this road, perhaps because of this, the four major sects of Tibetan Buddhism, Bon, Hinduism, and Jainism all regard Kailash as the head of the sacred mountain and the center of the world.
▲ Kailash. Photo/ "Discovering Tibet", photo / Sun Yan
02. "Qinling" on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
If the Ganges Mountains are compared to a mountain range in the Central Plains, it is the Qin Mountains. The Qinling Mountains and the Huai River form the dividing line between the north and the south of China's geography, while the Ganges Mountains, together with the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains on its eastern side, divide the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into two parts, the north and south. They have blocked the momentum of the warm and humid water vapor of the Indian Ocean going north, shaping the north and south of the mountains into two completely different tibets.
▲ In the Central Plains is the Qinling-Huaihe line, and on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the Gandhis Mountain-Nianqing Tanggula Mountain Line.
On the south side of the mountain range, the Brahmaputra River is represented by a series of large rivers, opening a series of openings in the Himalayas, which is an excellent channel for water vapor from the Indian Ocean to pour into Tibetan areas. Along these water-vapor-nourished river valleys, there are crops such as citrus, lemons, bananas and other crops that seem to be "incompatible" with Tibetan cuisine such as butter tea and yak beef, and dense evergreen broad-leaved forests and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests are scattered throughout them – tibet now has the largest forest stock in the country, almost all of which is the credit of this region.
▲ Is this also Tibet? This is the Nyingchi region of Tibet. Figure/Figureworm Creative
Even the areas south of the mountains far from the river valley can be blessed with water vapor, and the climate here belongs to the temperate plateau, which is the most important agricultural area in Tibet, where wheat, apples, pears, grapes and other crops can thrive.
The ridges of the Ganges Mountains and the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains are the dividing line between the temperate zone of the Tibetan plateau and the cold zone of the plateau. To the north of the mountains is the vast Tibetan Plateau, where cold, dry, moist-loving trees can no longer grow, replaced by dwarf shrubs and alpine meadows, and animal husbandry has become the mainstay of life.
▲ North of Mount Ganges, an alpine meadow in the Ali region of Tibet. Photography / Shen Jing
Differences in climates create different mountains. The active climate and oceanic glaciers created by water vapor have aggravated the weathering of the mountain, so the terrain on the south side of the Ganges Mountains is very steep, with a relative height difference of more than 2,000 meters, and relatively speaking, the arid north slope is a gentle slope, and the relative height difference is only more than 1,000 meters.
The Ganges Mountains, along with the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains, are also the watershed between the outflow system of the Indian Ocean in Tibet and the internal flowing water system in northern Tibet. The water system that develops on the southern slope develops into a large river and eventually merges into the Indian Ocean, while the water system on the northern slope, except for the source of the Nu River in the east, is crisscrossed and crisscrossed, or disappears inland, or converges into a lake.
▲ The Main Source of the Indus River, the Lion Spring River. Photo: Colorful China
The Ganges Mountains, as the geographical dividing line, are the key to our understanding of the development of Tibetan civilization.
When we look at the Himalayas as a reference, it is difficult to understand why some people would choose the Ali region, with an average altitude of 4500 meters, to create the ancient Zhang-zhung civilization and the later Guge Dynasty, and not to see the central location of Lhasa in Tibet.
▲ Lhasa, which enjoys a favorable location, is the center of Tibet. Photo: "Discovering Tibet"
However, when we look at the Ganges Mountains as a reference, everything becomes so natural.
The birthplace of ancient Zhangxiong, in Kailash and the freshwater lake at the foot of the mountain, Mapan Yongcuo, is both a transportation hub and the relatively warm and humid southern foothills of the Gandhis Mountains, rather than the no-man's land in northern Tibet that we remember; similarly, the Guge Dynasty also chose the water-rich Xiangquan River in Shannan as a habitat.
▲ On the banks of the Xiangquan River, the ruins of the capital of the Guge Kingdom. Photo: "Discovering Tibet"
As for Lhasa, which is located between the Ganges Mountains and the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains, it can enjoy the moisture of water vapor and easily connect the north and south of Tibetan areas, which is a unique strategic place for Tibet!
03. Who is the real "king"?
The world knows Kailash, but few people have heard of Lengbu Gangri, you know, it is the highest peak of the Ganges Mountains!
The name Lengbu Gangri is a transliteration of the Tibetan word "Minister Snow Mountain", and there are ministers and there are kings. Next to Lengbu Gangri, there is also a pyramid-shaped King's Peak Prajonghi, which in Tibetan legend is the brother of the sacred mountain Kailash.
▲ King's Peak Prajong and the glacier below it melt snow. Figure/Figureworm Creative
If you don't know that Lengbugri is the highest peak of the Gandhis Mountains, your eyes will surely be attracted by the handsome mountain of the king, because the chancellor Snow Mountain, together with a series of princes, queens, and princesses, surrounds the king in the middle.
▲ King's Peak where the stars hold the moon. Photography / Li Guoping
Obviously, it is the highest peak of the mountain range, so why is it so depressed?
Although Lengbugangchi is on the south side of the Ganges Mountains like Kailash, there is no gap in the Himalayas to the south, so the water vapor here is relatively scarce and the glaciers are very inactive, so compared with Kailash, which is the source of the three major rivers, there are only a few small rivers at the foot of lengbugangri that eventually flow into the Brahmaputra. Without the convenience of the river valley and the moisture of the water vapor, this place has been inaccessible for many years, and lengbu Gangri is like a girl hiding in a deep boudoir, rarely seen by the world.
▲ Ice Tallinn Wonders on Lengbugang Day, ice Tallinn will only appear in places where there is little precipitation and glaciers are not active. Each ice tallinn in the picture has 2-3 meters
Although it has been learned that Lengbugangri is the highest peak of the Ganges, it has not been "named" – the main peak of the mountain range is still Kailash, which is more than 400 meters shorter than it. This is not to say that we favor the latter, but the main peak of the mountain range, usually discovered earlier, recognized, explored, and given more cultural connotations, with outstanding altitude, relatively large drop, landmark mountain, Kailash is obviously more qualified than Lengbugangri this Title.
▲ The harsh natural conditions are one of the reasons why Lengbugang is less well known, and the altitude at the foot of the mountain also reaches 5500-5600 meters, and strong winds and heavy snow are commonplace. absorb
Nowadays, when the photos of the cold cloth day enter the eyes of the world, we find that the obscure cold cloth day is so beautiful. This is not like the unknown Ganges Mountains, who knows that it is the "king" who stands behind the Himalayas and truly shapes the pattern of Tibetan civilization.
▲ From another angle, the cold cloth day can show its majesty. Photography / Li Guoping
Resources
"Gandhis Mountain: An Exploration of the Natural Geographical Significance of the Nianqing Tanggula Mountain Line" Yang Qinye, Zheng Du
"The Division of The Climate Zone in Tibet" Zhang Yiguang, Huang Chaoying
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Wen 丨 Zhang Yuchen
Covered | Visual China