Sanjiangyuan

Sanjiangyuan (Source of Three Rivers) area, renowned as the 'Cistern of China', is the womb of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang Rivers. It is located in the south of Qinghai Province, with Tibet in the southeast, Sichuan Province in the east and Golmud City  in the north.

Sanjiangyuan covers an entire area of over 316,000 sq km (78 million acres), where there are numerous snow-clad mountains, lakes, rivers, glaciers, and grasslands, along with abundant resources of flora and fauna. It is estimated that 25% of the waters of the Yangtze River, 49% of the Yellow River, and 15% of the Lancang River all originate from this area. Over 557,000 people reside here, including Tibetans, Han, Hui, Salar, Mongol and others.

Sanjiangyuan Natural Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in China, and also the most concentrated area of diverse living things within the high regions in the world. At an average altitude of over 4,000 m (13,123 ft), it is also the highest natural wetland in China. The nature reserve includes 25 central areas, which cover a total of about 112,000 sq km (28 million acres). The grand memorial monument of Sanjiangyuan is built beside Tongtian River along the Tibet Railway.

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