Burang County Overview
Burang County, or called Purang County, belongs to Ngari Prefecture of Tibet, China. It is located in the southwest of Tibet autonomous region, the southern region of Ngari Prefecture, the southern canyon range of Himalaya, and the junction of China, India and Nepal.
‣ Where is Burang County
Burang County is an important Chinese customs point between Tibet, Nepal and India. Much of the county consists of river valleys of mountains and lakes like the Holy Mountain Kailash, The Naimonany Peak Gunrla and Lake Maponen Yamco Lake Manasarowar. Also, the Karnali River is a prominent geographical feature of the landscape.
‣ Basic Information of Burang County
● Chinese Name: 普兰县
● Population: 10,000（in 2014）
● Area: 12,539 square kilometers
● Zip code: 859500
● Dialing code: (+86) 0897
● Average Altitude: 3900 meters
‣ Burang County Climate
Burang County is the arid climate region of plateau sub frigid. Therefore, Burang County has sufficient sunshine, big temperature difference between day and night, low temperature and less precipitation. The annual average temperature is 3 degrees centigrade with the extreme high temperature 26.5 degrees centigrade and the extremely low temperature -27.5 degrees centigrade. The annual sunshine duration is about 3153.2 hours and 40% rainfall is in August.
‣ Burang County Attractions
● Landscape
- Mount Kailash(冈仁波齐)
Mount Kailash, the main peak of Gangdise Mountains in China, is one of the ten most beautiful and shocking mountains. The peak height of 6721 meters above sea level is the second peak in Gangdise Mountains. Located in the northern Burang County, Mount Kailash means “mountain for gods” in Tibetan.
- Lake Manasarovar(玛旁雍错)
Covering more than 400 square kilometers of waters, Lake Manasarovar is the world's highest freshwater lake with 4587 meters above sea level and the water depth of 77 meters. In the Buddhist scriptures, only a lake is called "mother of the World Rivers", and that refers to Lake Manasarovar. It means is “invincible lake" in the Tibetan words.
- Peacock River Valley
Ocean monsoon from the Bay of Bengal across Himalaya Range come here, so that the formation of the humid climate, which is so hard to see in Qinghai Tibet Plateau. In Peacock Valley, there is large tracts of oases; and villages exist in the oases.
● Historical Remains
- The Ancient Palace(in Xianberlin Temple)
Remains of Xianberlin Temple is in the mountainside and filled with caves like a honeycomb. Ancient tower hanging out, a number of prayer flags wave in the wind.
- Burang Battlefield Site
A battle that ever shaked heaven and earth happened in an old white tower of Duoyou Village, 5000 kilometer far from Burang County. You can experience the grand ancient battlefield by visiting there.
● Temple
- Jiwu Temple(基乌寺)
Jiwu temple is located in the west of Lake Manasarovar. And as the the starting point, it is one of the 8 temples surrounding by Lake Manasarovar. Situated on the top of the mountain, the temple is made up of two buildings.
The south is for chanting and incense while the north is mainly Marnyi Stone with the arrangement of various colors and oxheads engraved with scripture.
- Kejia Temple(科迦寺)
Kejia Temple is located in the Burang County, in the southeast of about 100 kilometers. Small scale and dilapidated hall makes the Temple look a little mottled.
Yiquan Cave is located in the Kejia Temple; there are many animals’ statues naturally formed including the twelve zodiacs.
- Qugu Temple(曲古寺)
Qugu Temple got its name from the Qugu Buddha enshrined in this historic temple.
- Zhirepu Temple(直热普寺)
There is a small-scale and north-facing Temple, Zhirepu temple, which was created by Gutanba, the famous master of Zubagaju.
- Zunzhuipu Temple (尊追普寺)
Zunzhuipu Temple is a temple of scattered levels, clear priority, quaint color and facing the east.
- Jiangzha Temple(江扎寺)
Jiangzha Temple is surrounded by much relics such as strange caves and springs, which are considered as something relevant to the religion by believers.
- Xianbolin Temple(贤柏林寺)
In the west of Burang County and the Peacock River, there is a towering mountain with different relics of various shapes and sizes. That is the ruins of Xianbolin Temple.
‣ Burang County Folk Customs
● Tibetan Opera：In Burang County, there wasn’t Tibetan Performance Team, some followers of the nobles able to sing Tibetan Opera have settled in Burang County after the liberation. Then Tibet Tibetan opera started to spread.
● Dance: There are a number of dances in Burang County, which concentrate on “Guozhuo”(circle dance). Combined dancing and singing, it is a folk dance filled with rich and colorful behaviors, and lively and warm feeling. What the dance shows is the rough, bold and strong qualities of the Tibetan people.
● Females Dress of Burang County: Because of preciousness, females only wear the dresses of Burang County on festivals so it is difficult to see that. The dress is set up from head to foot, decorated with gold, silver, turquoise, agate, coral, pearl, and other jewelries, weighing more than 10 pounds. Costing a dozen or even millions of dollars, so the dress is like property set in a body.
● Wedding Song: Wedding song here is a big and famous variety of Tibetan. It is a comprehensive art of singing and dancing, chanting, performing. All their ceremonials and daily life are full of performances and most of the lyrics, title, and wedding ceremonies have retained the ancient local feature of Bonismo.
● Ornamental Stone：Ancient and modern things in Burang County are too complicated to see and listen to them completely. Here you can pick up three kinds of stones: The first one looking like elliptical bird eggs, when you shake it, you can hear the sound of the water. It is a kind of rare Tibetan medicine; breaking the pebble, the water you get could make the eyes bright by wiping. The second is a square and black stone, used as the Tibetan mathematical symbols or the chessmen in a Tibetan game. The third is a bright red stone, just used as a decoration to watch. If you want to carve it to a necklace: drill a hole in rocks, pebbles will crumble.
‣ Burang County Transportation
You can choose either self-driving traveling or take public transportation. Take a train or bus from Lhasa, and then you can get to Burang County by bus.
‣ Burang County Travel Tips
● Best Time to Visit Burang County
Because of its climate, May and late June are the best time to pay a visit to Burang County.
