The Qilian Mountain National Park which covers a total area of 50,200 km2, is located at the junction area of Gansu province and Qinghai province. It is home to a variety of wild animals such as snow leopards, which are under first-class state protection in China. Thanks to the Qilian Mountain, a complex ecosystem of mountain forests, temperate desert grasslands, alpine meadows, and glacial snow-capped mountains exists in the arid desert belt of northwest China. It is an important ecological security barrier in western China. (PHOTO:XINHUA)