The Qinling Mountains are the dividing line between northern and southern China.
Tips
usage
Almost always read lǐng. It often anchors place names: 秦岭 (the Qinling Mountains), 南岭 (the Nanling Mountains), 大兴安岭 (the Greater Khingan Range). Standing alone it means a ridge or mountain pass.
山 on the left depicts three peaks rising together. 岭 is a long connected stretch of high terrain, so the radical places it with 峰 peak, 崖 cliff, 峡 gorge.
令 on the right supplies the sound, lìng shifting to lǐng. The same phonetic appears in 领 collar, 铃 bell, 龄 age, 零 zero, a productive family worth learning together.