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The "cold desert plateau" of Leng is a place mentioned several times in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft gave different locations for it in different stories, although it is unclear whether this is because the Plateau exists in multiple places (not impossible, in the Mythos) or simply because there is more than one place with the same name.
The Plateau of Leng is first described in "The Hound" (1922) as being located in Central Asia, where it is inhabited by a corpse-eating cult.
In The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1927), the Plateau of Leng is located in the north of the Dreamlands, and inhabited by The High Priest Not to Be Described, who dwells alone in a prehistoric monastery.
In At the Mountains of Madness (1931), an expedition from Miskatonic University explores a plateau in Antarctica, on which they discover an ancient and apparently-abandoned city built by the Great Old Ones. One member of the expedition, who has encountered references to the Plateau of Leng in ancient texts, forms the hypothesis that the plateau they are exploring is Leng.
The word "leng" (冷) is also the Hokkien word for "cold". It is unknown whether Lovecraft knew this when he chose the name for his plateau.
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