The Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, refers to the area in the northwestern part of Yunnan province featuring three rivers:

Jinsha (upstream of the Yangtze)

Lancang (known as Mekong outside of China) and

Nujiang (known as Salween in Myanmar)

They run roughly parallel, north to south, for more than 170 kilometers. The shortest distance between the Jinsha and Lancang rivers is 66 km, while between Lancang and Nujiang it is less than 19 km.

With an altitude ranging from 760 meters to 6,740 meters above sea level, the site includes 15 protected areas categorized into eight geographical clusters.

Here are 10 iconic species found in the area:

01 YUNNAN SNUB-NOSED MONKEY

The Yunnan snub-nosed monkey lives at the highest altitude of any primate, apart from humans. The primary forests, 3,000 meters above sea level in Yunnan Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve, are its main habitat. Recognized by its pink, pouting lips and "punk hairstyle", it's a social animal with strong family bonds and is considered to be the "elf of the snow mountains".