Great Rivers... Great Mountains... Great Diversity...

The upper reaches of four of Asia’s great rivers – the Yangtze, the Lancang (Mekong), the Nujiang (Salween), and the Dulong (branch of the Irrawaddy) flow through Northwest Yunnan within 90 kilometers of each other.

These four great rivers are separated by five high mountain ranges, creating not only great variation in elevation from the deep river valleys to the high mountain ridges but also corridors for species migration. Birds migrating from Mongolia all the way to eastern China or Southeast Asia stop here to rest or breed.

Monsoons blow across the mountain ranges throughout July, August, and September, bringing with them moisture from the Indian Ocean.  This enables a rich variety of trees and plants to grow at altitudes as high as 4,300 meters.  The combination of these remarkable conditions has created an extraordinary trove of plant and animal life, including some of the last significant tracts of primary forest left in China and the southernmost glaciers in the northern Hemisphere.

Three million people call the area home, including 13 of China’s 55 ethnic minorities.  Many of these minority people rely on nature not only for subsistence but also as part of their traditional beliefs.

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