Qinghai Plateau, China

This scene is an original illustration set in Qinghai Plateau, China. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is tundra — too cold for trees.

A herd of long-haired black yaks grazes across the foreground. Behind them stands a low rectangular tent of black yak-wool with long guy ropes. The meadow grass is short and only just turning green from winter gold, and snow-streaked ranges close the horizon on every side.

Why can yaks only live above a certain altitude?

Yaks are physiologically committed to altitude — they overheat below about three thousand metres — so their presence alone puts a floor under the elevation. The tent is woven from their own hair: loose enough to vent smoke, dense enough to shed snow when it swells wet. Grass only now greening, on a spring afternoon, means the growing season here is very short and starts very late.

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