Qiyi Glacier, located 116 kilometers from the city of Jiayuguan in the hinterlands of the Qilian Mountain Range, is the glacier nearest to a city in all of Asia. It was jointly discovered by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and glacier experts from the former Soviet Union on July 1, 1958. The date "July 1" in Chinese is called “qiyi,” hence the name of the glacier. The average thickness of the glacier is 78 meters, and its thickest point is about 120 meters. The altitude of the glacier's summit is 5150 meters, while it extends about 4300 meters above sea level at its frontmost point.