Gangshika Snow Peak Viewing Area 岗什卡雪峰正规开放观景区

About Gangshika Snow Peak Viewing Area

Both cited Qinghai Daily accounts describe Gangshika as the highest peak of the eastern section of the Qilian range. The earlier one places it about 40 km north-west of the Menyuan county town, says its summit holds snow all year and calls it the foremost of the ranges within Menyuan; it also records that the peak is known as the main peak of Lenglongling, which it describes as the easternmost modern glacier in China, that its glaciers cover 81 sq km, and that its mass is composed mainly of acidic quartz amphibolite, gneiss, plagioclase hornfels and basic volcanic rock, among others. The same account classifies the peak as a mountain-type natural scenic area and lists it among Menyuan's eight great sights, and names the evening light on its summit as 'dragon peak evening glow' (龙峰夕照) and 'cold dragon evening glow' (冷龙夕照).

The 2026 report gives the main summit as 5,254.5 m with a satellite peak at 5,150 m and a third peak at 5,005 m, and says seven Gangshika international ski-mountaineering exchange conferences have been held there since 2011, with the mountaineering management centre of the General Administration of Sport naming it a national ski-mountaineering training base in 2016. The scenic area's manager, Ma Liang, is quoted saying most visitors climb the third peak, whose altitude meets the national standard for a 5,000 m-class snow mountain and which requires reporting to the sports bureau before entering, and that the third peak has been branded 'your first snow mountain'. The same report records 970,400 visits to the scenic area in 2025. The catalogue name 正规开放观景区 is an editorial label: neither cited page designates a separate officially open viewing area, and neither gives its boundary.

The earlier account also describes a seven-colour ice waterfall at the foot of the peak, a little over 10 m high and more than 200 m wide, whose colours it attributes to minerals in the spring water.

What to look for

• The main summit at 5,254.5 m and the third peak at 5,005 m, which the scenic area's manager says most visitors climb
• The seven-colour ice waterfall (七彩冰瀑) at the foot of the peak, described in the Qinghai Daily account as a little over 10 m high and more than 200 m wide
• The evening light on the summit, named in that account as 'dragon peak evening glow' (龙峰夕照) and 'cold dragon evening glow' (冷龙夕照)
• The glaciers of Lenglongling, which the same account describes as the easternmost modern glacier in China and puts at 81 sq km in total

Location & getting there

Getting to Gangshika Snow Peak Viewing Area

Check weather, trail access and the last return service. A mountain or forest area is not one entrance, and a map’s central pin may be far from the trailhead.

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