Qinghai Keke Xili Nature Reserve

Qinghai Keke Xili Nature Reserve Park is situated in the common border of Qumalai County and Zhiduo County, in Qinghai Province, in the People's Republic of China, which is part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.  Keke Xili is also known as Hoh Xil and its literal meaning is Blue Ridge or Lord of ten thousand mountains. The entire stretch is laying on the north eastern part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, having an area of 4, 500,000 hectares.  The park is full of wild plants which are the specialty of the park and wild animals.  This is a protected area under the strict watchful eyes of the government of China.

About 30,000 animals inhabit

Situated at an altitude of 4,800 meters from the sea level the park is home for 230 species of wild animals of which 20 of them are protected species. Some of the endangered animals are wild yak, white-lip deer, wild donkey, Tibetan antelope and the brown bear.  There are about 30,000 animals altogether from Tibetan antelope, Tibetan gazelle, Tibetan wild asses and Wild yaks are estimated to be living in the reserve park. Protection of wild animals and endangered species received a positive thrust after declaring the reserve Park as a geographically important reserve forest.

The entire stretch is full of hills and mountains. Because of the high altitude structure of the landscape, the sky is less clouded always. This is the third largest uninhabited land in the world and the largest virgin land in China.  Since the park is considered as a highly protected one, the authorities allow only 1000 tourists to visit this beautiful land every year.

Tibetan Antelope - the official mascot of 2008 Olympic Games

Winter is really tough and much longer.  So you must have heavy winter protection dresses and snow protection shoes to cover yourself.  Snow capped mountains and snow stretched land appear like a white meadow. The locals are mainly nomads who lives in tents made of yak hair. Since every step is taken by the authorities to preserve the endangered species, hunting is strictly protected. The very much endangered species Tibetan Antelope is given maximum protection in this area.  To create awareness of the vulnerable situation of the species, this animal was selected as the official mascot of 2008 Olympic Games.

While visiting to these kinds of unknown destinations and where tourists need to adhere to the strict policies of the authorities, one must be careful in adapting the conditions of the tourist locations.  In such cases it is highly recommended to get proper feed backs from the local travel agents and try to have experienced tourist guides, who can help you in understanding the situations and move quickly and finish the visiting location without ending up in messy situations.  It is also suggested to find out or make sure to have English speaking guides to ease up your trip.

Transportation:

The Park reserve is well connected with Rail and Road net work services.  Through the eastern border of the park run the Qingzang railways and China National Highway 109.  The world's highest railways tunnel with a length of 1,338 meter at an altitude of 4,905 meters above sea level open its way to Reserve Park area.