The Amnye Machen massif carries several major glaciers descending from its highest peaks, including the Harlong Glacier on the northeastern flank — one of the largest in the Qinghai section of the Plateau. The glacier's terminal moraine, reachable on foot from the kora route, is a dramatic landscape of ice seracs, meltwater streams, and ancient lateral moraines colonised by sparse alpine scrub.
Wildlife is abundant here relative to more accessible parts of China. Blue sheep (bharal) pick their way across the scree above the glacier, snow leopards haunt the upper elevations though are rarely seen, and Tibetan foxes are occasionally spotted near the moraine. The dark shapes of bearded vultures ride the thermals above the ice. For trekkers willing to leave the standard kora path and push up toward the glacier, it is one of those landscapes that justifies the long approach.