The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau bids farewell to the summer and welcomes another season of diverse colors. The vast expanse of golden grasslands is interspersed with mirror-like lakes of different shapes and sizes, which reflect snow-capped mountains.

A picturesque view of the Sanjiangyuan National Park in northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Located in the hinterland of the plateau, Sanjiangyuan, meaning "source of three rivers" (the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers) in Chinese, is known as the "water tower of China." The area provides the lower reaches of the three rivers in five countries, namely, China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, with over 60 billion cubic meters of water annually.

Covering a total area of 190,700 square kilometers, the Sanjiangyuan National Park boasts one of the world's highest concentrations of biodiversity at high altitudes.

The plateau province of Qinghai has been following Chinese President Xi Jinping's instructions on promoting ecological conservation and high-quality development on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Years of consistent efforts have paid off, with dramatic changes taking place in Sanjiangyuan.

Ecological restoration

As one of the 32 terrestrial priority areas for biodiversity protection in China, Sanjiangyuan is home to 69 species of wildlife under special state protection: the Tibetan antelope, snow leopard, white-lipped deer, yak, Tibetan wild donkey, black-necked crane, to name a few.