Stretching across a vast swath of western China, the Kunlun Mountains form one of the great mountain systems of Central Asia. The range extends along the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, separating its high, remote landscapes from the Tarim Basin and other arid regions farther north.
The Kunlun are not as famous internationally as the Himalayas or Karakoram, but they contain an extraordinary collection of high peaks. Their highest summit, Liushi Shan, reaches 7,167 meters (23,513 feet), making it one of the relatively small number of mountains on Earth exceeding 7,000 meters.
Defining the exact boundaries of the Kunlun Mountains can be complicated. Some broad geographic definitions have historically included mountains farther west near the Pamirs, including Muztagh Ata and Kongur Tagh. For this list, however, we follow the Peakbagger Kunlun range classification, which treats those mountains separately.
⚡ Kunlun Mountains Fast Facts
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Western and central China |
| Major regions | Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai |
| Highest peak | Liushi Shan |
| Highest elevation | 7,167 m / 23,513 ft |
| Approximate east–west extent | 2,082 km / 1,294 mi |
| Major geographic setting | Northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau |
| Notable high peaks | Liushi Shan, Ulugh Muztagh, Chung Muztagh, Bukadaban Feng |
| Continent | Asia |
🏔️ 10 Highest Peaks in the Kunlun Mountains
| Rank | Mountain | Elevation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liushi Shan | 7,167 m / 23,513 ft |
| 2 | Ulugh Muztagh (Muztag) | 6,973 m / 22,877 ft |
| 3 | Chung Muztagh | 6,962 m / 22,841 ft |
| 4 | Liushi Shan II | 6,930 m / 22,736 ft |
| 5 | Ulugh Muztagh II | 6,925 m / 22,719 ft |
| 6 | Chongshe Shan | 6,903 m / 22,647 ft |
| 7 | Liushi Shan III | 6,875 m / 22,555 ft |
| 8 | Bukadaban Feng | 6,860 m / 22,506 ft |
| 9 | Chongshe Shan II | 6,820 m / 22,375 ft |
| 10 | Chongshe Shan III | 6,810 m / 22,342 ft |
The ranking follows the Kunlun peak database maintained by Peakbagger. Mountain elevations and classifications can vary slightly among maps and databases, particularly in such remote and historically difficult-to-survey areas.
🥇 1. Liushi Shan — 7,167 m / 23,513 ft
Liushi Shan, also known as the Kunlun Goddess Peak, is the highest mountain in the Kunlun range. Rising to 7,167 meters, it is the only Kunlun summit in this classification to exceed the 7,000-meter threshold.
The mountain lies in an exceptionally remote part of western China near the boundary between Xinjiang and Tibet. Its geographic prominence is nearly as impressive as its elevation: Liushi Shan rises about 1,946 meters above its key col, qualifying it as an ultra-prominent mountain.
Its elevation also places Liushi Shan among the highest mountains outside the Himalaya and Karakoram systems.
For Mountain Field Guide readers, Liushi Shan is the essential starting point for exploring the Kunlun Mountains: it is both the range high point and the dominant summit of its immediate mountain group.
🥈 2. Ulugh Muztagh — 6,973 m / 22,877 ft
Just below the 7,000-meter mark stands Ulugh Muztagh, listed by Peakbagger simply as Muztag and also known as Muztag Feng.
At 6,973 meters (22,877 feet), Ulugh Muztagh is the second-highest mountain in the Kunlun Mountains and one of their most geographically significant peaks.
It stands along the border between Tibet and Xinjiang in an exceptionally isolated portion of the northern Tibetan Plateau. With approximately 1,943 meters of topographic prominence, Ulugh Muztagh is also an ultra-prominent summit.
Older maps sometimes assigned dramatically greater elevations to Ulugh Muztagh. Modern measurements place its elevation at 6,973 meters, illustrating just how difficult accurate surveying once was in this remote part of Asia.
🥉 3. Chung Muztagh — 6,962 m / 22,841 ft
Chung Muztagh rises to approximately 6,962 meters (22,841 feet), only 11 meters lower than Ulugh Muztagh.
That tiny elevation difference makes the two mountains remarkably close competitors for second place within the range.
Chung Muztagh is another highly prominent Kunlun summit, with roughly 1,512 meters of prominence. Like many of the major peaks in this part of western China, it rises from a vast high-altitude landscape where settlements, roads, and other infrastructure are sparse.
Its nearly 7,000-meter elevation places Chung Muztagh among the giants of Central Asia even though it remains comparatively little known outside mountaineering and geographic circles.
🏔️ 4. Liushi Shan II — 6,930 m / 22,736 ft
Liushi Shan II is a major neighboring summit within the Liushi Shan massif.
At 6,930 meters (22,736 feet), it stands only 237 meters below the principal summit of Liushi Shan. Despite its close association with the range high point, Peakbagger treats Liushi Shan II as a separate ranked peak in its Kunlun database.
The presence of several very high summits around Liushi Shan helps demonstrate that the mountain is not an isolated spike. Instead, it forms part of an extensive cluster of high ridges and summits in the western Kunlun.
🧊 5. Ulugh Muztagh II — 6,925 m / 22,719 ft
Another subsidiary but independently ranked summit is Ulugh Muztagh II, reaching approximately 6,925 meters (22,719 feet).
It belongs to the same high mountain group as Ulugh Muztagh and sits just five meters below Liushi Shan II in the ranking.
The extremely small elevation differences separating many of the Kunlun’s highest summits are one reason rankings can vary among mountain databases. Surveying remote ice-covered peaks and determining whether particular summits qualify as independent mountains can both influence published lists.
⛰️ 6. Chongshe Shan — 6,903 m / 22,647 ft
At 6,903 meters (22,647 feet), Chongshe Shan is the sixth-highest peak in the Kunlun Mountains under the Peakbagger classification.
The mountain has approximately 603 meters of topographic prominence, enough for it to stand clearly above the saddles connecting it to neighboring summits.
Chongshe Shan is also the highest member of another cluster of exceptionally high Kunlun peaks. Two additional Chongshe summits appear farther down this top-ten list.
🏔️ 7. Liushi Shan III — 6,875 m / 22,555 ft
Liushi Shan III reaches 6,875 meters (22,555 feet) and is the third Liushi Shan summit among the ten highest peaks of the Kunlun Mountains.
Together, Liushi Shan, Liushi Shan II, and Liushi Shan III form one of the most impressive high-altitude groups in the range.
Although Liushi Shan III is nearly 300 meters lower than the main summit, its elevation still comfortably exceeds that of many of the best-known mountains elsewhere in the world.
🏔️ 8. Bukadaban Feng — 6,860 m / 22,506 ft
Bukadaban Feng is one of the most distinctive mountains on the list because it is not simply a secondary summit of one of the higher-ranked peaks.
At 6,860 meters (22,506 feet), Bukadaban Feng rises along the border between Xinjiang and Qinghai. It has approximately 1,922 meters of topographic prominence, making it an ultra-prominent mountain.
Bukadaban Feng is also generally recognized as the highest point in Qinghai Province.
Like Ulugh Muztagh, Bukadaban Feng has suffered from historical elevation confusion. Some older maps gave the mountain a substantially greater height, but modern data place its summit at approximately 6,860 meters.
Bukadaban Feng is particularly important within the Mountain Field Guide Kunlun cluster because it also serves as the Nearest Higher Neighbor of Yuzhu Peak, another major mountain farther east in the range.
⛰️ 9. Chongshe Shan II — 6,820 m / 22,375 ft
Chongshe Shan II is the second major summit of the Chongshe group and reaches approximately 6,820 meters (22,375 feet).
Its elevation places it ninth among the Kunlun peaks represented in Peakbagger’s range database.
Although significantly less prominent than some of the range’s great independent mountains, it helps illustrate the enormous scale of the high terrain surrounding Chongshe Shan.
⛰️ 10. Chongshe Shan III — 6,810 m / 22,342 ft
Rounding out the ten highest peaks is Chongshe Shan III, with an elevation of approximately 6,810 meters (22,342 feet).
Only ten meters separate it from Chongshe Shan II.
Together with the main Chongshe Shan summit, these peaks form another concentrated group of mountains exceeding 6,800 meters — an elevation greater than the highest mountain on every continent except Asia and South America.
🌏 Where Are the Kunlun Mountains?
The Kunlun Mountains stretch across western China along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Their geography encompasses portions of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Qinghai, with different definitions of the greater Kunlun system extending the range somewhat differently.
To the north lie some of Central Asia’s great arid landscapes, including the Tarim Basin. To the south lies the elevated Tibetan Plateau.
The range’s enormous scale means its character changes substantially from west to east. The highest summits are concentrated primarily in the western and central Kunlun, while major eastern peaks generally have lower elevations.
📏 Why Isn’t Muztagh Ata on the List?
This is one of the most important questions when discussing the highest Kunlun peaks.
Muztagh Ata rises to about 7,546 meters (24,757 feet), while nearby Kongur Tagh reaches approximately 7,649 meters (25,095 feet). Both are therefore higher than Liushi Shan.
Some older or broader geographic descriptions have associated these mountains with the Kunlun system.
Modern mountain classifications commonly place them instead within the Eastern Pamirs, physically separated from the main Kunlun chain. Under that definition, neither mountain belongs on a ranking of the highest Kunlun peaks.
That is why this list uses Liushi Shan as the highest point of the Kunlun Mountains.
❄️ Other Notable Peaks of the Kunlun Mountains
Elevation alone does not determine a mountain’s geographic importance. Several lower Kunlun peaks are noteworthy because of their prominence, location, accessibility, or relationship to surrounding landscapes.
Yuzhu Peak
Yuzhu Peak rises to approximately 6,224 meters in Qinghai and is one of the most recognizable major summits of the eastern Kunlun.
Unlike the extremely remote giants of the western range, Yuzhu Peak is visible from important transportation corridors across the Tibetan Plateau, including the Qinghai–Tibet route.
Its substantial prominence also makes it far more topographically independent than many of the secondary summits appearing in the top-ten elevation ranking.
Bukadaban Feng
Although already eighth on the list, Bukadaban Feng deserves special mention because of its enormous prominence and status as the highest point in Qinghai.
It is therefore a particularly important mountain geographically, despite ranking below several secondary summits when elevation alone is considered.
Ulugh Muztagh
The extraordinary isolation of Ulugh Muztagh makes it another standout. The mountain rises in a landscape that remains among the most sparsely inhabited and difficult-to-reach high mountain regions in Asia.
📊 Which Is the Highest Mountain in the Kunlun Range?
Liushi Shan is the highest mountain in the Kunlun Mountains, with an elevation of 7,167 meters (23,513 feet).
It stands 194 meters higher than second-ranked Ulugh Muztagh and 205 meters higher than Chung Muztagh.
While geographic definitions of the Kunlun have varied historically, modern classifications that separate the Eastern Pamirs from the Kunlun identify Liushi Shan as the range high point.
🌄 A Mountain Range of Enormous Scale
The Kunlun Mountains are easy to overlook beside the globally famous Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamirs, but their scale is extraordinary.
The range extends for well over a thousand miles across western China and contains a remarkable concentration of mountains above 6,000 meters. Its western and central reaches include remote 7,000-meter and near-7,000-meter summits, while farther east the mountains form part of the dramatic northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
For mountain enthusiasts, the Kunlun offer something increasingly rare: an immense mountain landscape filled with important summits that remain relatively unfamiliar to much of the outside world.
For a broader look at the country’s major ranges and summits, see Mountains in China: A Guide to the Country’s Highest Peaks and Major Ranges.
🔗 Related Articles
- Kunlun Mountains
- Liushi Shan
- Ulugh Muztagh
- Bukadaban Feng
- Yuzhu Peak
- Mountains in China: A Guide to the Country’s Highest Peaks and Major Ranges
📚 Sources
- Peakbagger — Kunlun Mountains and Ten Highest Peaks
- Peakbagger — Ulugh Muztagh (Muztag)
- Mountain Field Guide — Liushi Shan
- Mountain Field Guide — Bukadaban Feng
- Mountain Field Guide — Yuzhu Peak
- Mountain Field Guide — Mountains in China
