The Tian Shan (Chinese: 天山; pinyin: Tiān Shān; literally "celestial mountains"; Kyrgyz:ТЕҢИРИ-ТОО (Tengiri-Too; literally "Heavenly Mountains"/"God's Mountains"/"Mountains of Tengri");Mongolian: Тэнгэр уул; Uyghur: تەڭرى تاغ, ULY: Tengri Tagh), also spelled Tien Shan, is a large system of mountain ranges located in Central Asia. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Victory Peak (Jengish Chokusu), 7,439 metres (24,406 ft).
The Chinese name for Tian Shan may be derived from the Xiongnu language name qilian (祁连), which was described by Sima Qian in the Records of the Grand Historian as the homeland of the pre-Xiongnu peoples of the region, the Yuezhi, and has been said to refer to the Tian Shan rather than to the range 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) further east now known by this name. The nearby Tannu-Ola Mountains (Tuvan: Таңды-Уула Tangdy-Uula) bear the same name ("heaven/celestial mountains" or "god/spirit mountains").
Read more about Tian Shan: Geography, Ranges of The Tian Shan, Ecology
Famous quotes containing the word shan:
“It is strange but true that although we may have learned all sorts of important facts while raising our own children, when we become grandparents we still tend to forget a whole lot of things we knew.”
—Eda Le Shan (20th century)