Thanks to the country's active anti-poaching and biodiversity protection efforts in recent years, Hoh Xil is now home to more than 70,000 Tibetan antelopes.

"Despite the high altitude, frigid temperature and thin air, Hoh Xil is a paradise for wildlife. Tibetan antelopes, wild yaks, Tibetan wild donkeys, Tibetan foxes, brown bears and various other species live here," says Wang Xiangguo, director of the management bureau of Sanjiangyuan National Park.

"Nowadays, Hoh Xil is China's largest world natural heritage site, boasting the highest average elevation and maintaining a high-altitude ecosystem and the iconic species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," says Wang.

He adds that it has become a vital "sanctuary of life" for once endangered rare wildlife.