Anme Machin Snow Mountain

Anme Machin (or Anye Machin) is one of the highest peaks of a mountain range named Amne Machin (Tibtean: A’nyêmaqên), or, in Chinese, Animaqing Shan (Chinese：阿尼玛卿山; pinyin; ānímaqingShān) in Qinghai province. The entire Amne Machin range is an eastern extension of the Kunlun Mountains, a major mountain system of Asia. It runs in the general northwest- to-southeast direction in eastern Qinghai (Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and the adjacent areas of the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture) and the southwestern corner of Gansu’s Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The Amne Machin Peak (the highest point of the range) is located Maqen County of Golog Prefecture. The peak elevation is estimated to 6,282 meters(20,610ft). It is ranked number 23 in height among the mountain peaks of China. The existence of the ridge results in one of the great bends of the Yellow River. The river first flows for several hundreds of kilometers toward the east and southeast, along the south-western side of the Anme Machin Range. In so doing it crosses the entire length of Golog Prefecture, and reaches the borders of Gansu and Sichuan. Then the river turns almost 180 degrees to the left, passing to the northeastern side of the Anme Machin, and flows toward the northwest for 200~300km through several prefectures of the northeastern Qinghai.

The Amne Machin peak was first climbed in 1981 by a U.S. expedition (the first foreign expedition authorized by the Chinese government). Galen Rowell, Harold Knutsen and Kim Scmitz reached the summit successfully and reported its true elevation to be 20,610 feet.