The first version of the map of snow-capped Meili Mountain in southwest China's Yunnan Province has been published in both Chinese and English by the Xi'an Map Publishing House.

The glacier mountain, 6,740 meters above sea level, attracts a large number of mountain climbers and scientists every year. However, the lack of a map had created many difficulties for the adventurers, including some of whom have lost their lives on the mountain.

Mi Desheng, a research fellow with the Lanzhou Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in northwest Gansu Province, has spent years in Mt. Meili collecting geographic data with advanced remote-sensoring devices, and drew the map with a 1 : 1 million scale.

The map specifies the location of glaciers and vegetation genres in the mountain, and describes different climate features and road conditions in the area.

(People's Daily 08/11/2001)