Brown Panda, Qingling Mountains, Shaanxi Province, China

The northern side of the range is prone to hot weather, however the physical barrier of the mountains mean that the land to the North has a semi-arid climate, with the lack of rich, fertile landscape that can not support a wealth of wildlife. The mountains also acted as a natural defense against nomadic invasions from the North, as only four passes cross the mountains. In the late 1990s a railway tunnel and a spiral was completed, thereby easing travel across the range.
The highest mountain in the range is Mount Taibai (Chinese: 太白山; pinyin: Tàibáishān) at 3,767 meters (12,359 ft), which is about 100 kilometers (62 mi) west of the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an and is the highest mountain in eastern China. Mount Hua (华山) (2,155 meters or 7,070 feet), Mount Li (simplified Chinese: 骊山; traditional Chinese: 驪山; pinyin: Líshān) (1,302 meters or 4,272 feet), and Mount Maiji (simplified Chinese: 麦积山; traditional Chinese: 麥積山; pinyin: Màijīshān) (1,742 meters or 5,715 feet) make up the three other significant peaks in the range.