Kunlun Mountains

The Kunlun Mountains (simplified Chinese: 昆仑山; traditional Chinese: 崑崙山; pinyin: Kūnlún Shān, pronounced [kʰu̯ə́nlu̯ə̌n ʂán]; Mongolian: Хөндлөн Уулс Hundlun) are one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi). In the broadest sense, it forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin and the Gansu Corridor and continues east south of the Wei River to end at the North China Plain.

The exact definition of this range varies. An old source uses Kunlun to mean the mountain belt that runs across the center of China, that is, Kunlun in the narrow sense: Altyn Tagh along with the Qilian and Qin Mountains. A recent source has the Kunlun range forming most of the south side of the Tarim Basin and then continuing east south of the Altyn Tagh. Sima Qian (Shiji, scroll 123) says that Emperor Wu of Han sent men to find the source of the Yellow River and gave the name Kunlun to the mountains at its source. The name seems to have originated as a semi-mythical location in the classical Chinese text Shanhai Jing.

Kunlun Shan (998)

Kunlun Shan (998) is the lead ship of the People's Republic of China's Type 071 amphibious transport dock Yuzhao class. The ship was laid down in the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai in June 2006 and was launched on 21 December 2006. After finishing trials the ship was commissioned to the South Sea Fleet on 30 November 2007, at Zhanjiang Naval Base. Its estimated production cost is USD 300 million .

Use

On 9 March 2014, the ship was deployed in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

References