In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin.

From the Pamirs of Tajikistan, the Kunlun Mountains run east through southern Xinjiang to Qinghai province.

To the south of the Kunlun is the sparsely populated Changtang region, which forms part of the Tibetan Plateau.

[citation needed] But these mountains are physically much more closely linked to the Pamir group (ancient Mount Imeon).

The mountain range formed at the northern edges of the Cimmerian Plate during its collision, in the Late Triassic, with Siberia, which resulted in the closing of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean.

In the west, Highway 219 traverses the range en route from Yecheng, Xinjiang to Lhatse, Tibet.

Stories such as Kuafu chasing the sun, Gonggong's anger touching Buzhou Mountain, and Chang'e flying to the moon all originate from Kunlun mythology.

Mao Dun pointed out: According to legend, King Mu (976–922 BCE, Zhou dynasty) was the first to visit this paradise.

There he supposedly found the Jade Palace of the Yellow Emperor, the mythical originator of Chinese culture, and met Hsi Wang Mu (Xi Wang Mu, the 'Spirit Mother of the West' usually called the 'Queen Mother of the West') who also had her mythical abode in these mountains.