NIEN-CH'ING-T'ANG-KU-LA MOUNTAINS

WadeGiles romanization Nien-ch'ing-t'ang-ku-la Shan, Pinyin Nianchingtanggula Shan, mountain range forming the eastern section of a mountain system in the southern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. In the west the system comprises a northern range, the A-ling Mountains, and a southern range, the Kailas Range, which is much more rugged and heavily glaciated, though its highest peak, at 22,031 feet (6,715 m), is lower than peaks of the A-ling Mountains. East of about longitude 88 E the two chains unite in the Nien-ch'ing-t'ang-ku-la Mountains proper, often called the Trans-Himalaya, which form a high watershed between the Ya-lu-tsang-pu River valley of southern Tibet and the area of inland drainage and salt lakes on the high plateau. Southern slopes of the range are very rugged; many sections are above 20,000 feet (6,100 m), with some individual peaks well above 23,000 feet (7,000 m) in the area northwest of Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The southern slopes also are comparatively well watered, and the natural environment is clearly divided into vertical zones, rich in grasses and shrubs affording good mountain pastures. The slopes drain into the Ya-lu-tsang-pu (Tsangpo) River, the Chinese name for the Brahmaputra. In the west, the northern slopes of the range form part of the interior drainage of the southeastern area of the Ch'iang-t'ang basin and are generally dry and covered with hardy grasses; at the eastern end of the range the northern slopes drain into the upper headwaters of the Salween River and have a much richer cover of alpine grasses. The main route across the range crosses the Shang-shung Pass between Yang-pa-ching and Hei-ho. This carries the main road from Lhasa north to the Tsaidam Basin and to the Sinkiang Uighur Autonomous Region.