The Tian Shan, or Celestial Mountains, is a large, isolated
range surrounded by the desert basins of northern China. Middle
elevations catch enough arctic moisture to support a park-like
landscape of meadows and spruce forests. Above lie alpine
meadows, rocky slopes and glaciers. Below, steppes extend
outward to the desert floor. Because of size and variety of
habitat types, the Tian Shan are diverse, with more than 2,500
plant species. Although hunting pressure is severe, snow
leopards still occur here, as do the ungulate species that
comprise their prey base. Location and General Description The
Tian Shan extend 2,500 kilometers (km) east-to-west across
Central Asia. An extensive mountain system that comprises part
of the basin-and-range topography of northwestern China, the
mountains were formed by faulting and uplift during the
Pliocene, 7 to 2.5 million years ago. Like the Rocky Mountains
of North America, the Tian Shan are thought to be one of the
greatest examples of intracontinental mountain-building