Gonjo County Overview
Gonjo County, (Tibetan: གོ་འཇོ་རྫོང་ Wylie go 'jo rdzong; Chinese: 贡觉县; Pinyin: Gòngjué Xiàn) is a county of the Chamdo Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Overview
In Chinese: 贡觉县 ; In Pinyin: Gòng Jué Xiàn
Administrative Division Code : 542123;
Post Code : 854200
Phone Area Code :0895
The Prefix of Motor Vehicle License Plate : 藏B
The Prefix of Citizen Identity Card Number: 542123
Area Coverage: 6256 square kilometers;
Population : 40,000 persons (by the end of 2010);
Seat of Government: Bolo Town
Administrative Division:
Town and townships: Bolo Town (འབོ་ལོ་, 莫洛镇)
Mindo Township (མིག་མདོ་, 敏都乡)
Zêba Township (རྩེ་བ་, 则巴乡)
Langmai Township (གླང་སྨད་, 罗麦乡)
Sêrdong Township (གསེར་གདོང་, 沙东乡)
Kêrri Township (ཁེར་རི་, 克日乡)
Bumgyê Township (འབུམ་སྐྱེས་, 木协乡)
Awang Township (ཨ་དབང་, 阿旺乡)
Lhato Township (ལྷ་ཐོ་, 拉妥乡)
Qangsum Township (བྱང་གསུམ་, 雄松乡)
Lha'gyai Township (ལྷ་རྒྱལ་, 哈加乡)
Gyanbê Township (སྐྱ་འབེལ་, 相皮乡)
Qamdo Folk Custom in Tibet
Qamdo Folk Custom in Tibet – Dressing
Qamdo dressing is representative a regional culture and spirit. People in Qamdo Prefecture are called Kangba people. Men dress themselves very vigorous and unrestrained, bold and uninhibited. They prefer to wear long Tibetan knife, or other weapons. Their clothes are usually made of the silks and satins, cloth, and fabric, etc, and the edges are usually embroidered with otter's skin, tiger's skin, or leopard's skin, etc. Ladies dress themselves very graceful with as many gold and silver as possible, such as red coral earrings, coral, agate, and amber. They usually wear red coral which embroidered the silver and bronze on their forehead. It is said that the red coral was once wore by the imperial concubine of King Gesar. It looks very luxuriant and beautiful.
Qamdo Folk Custom in Tibet – Festival
Most of the festivals in Qamdo Prefecture are the same with other regions in Tibet Autonomous Region. But some festivals in Qamdo Prefecture are unique and distinctive. For example, the Shoton Festival and Wangkor Festivals are highly celebrated in Lhasa city and other regions in Tibet, but both of them are not available in Qamdo Prefecture.
With the age-old and profound history and tradition, Qamdo folk customs related to the business activities in Qamdo Prefecture are very popular and famous, such as Tsongqyue Festival. In 1326, one great master of Kagyu Sect appointed June 15th according to Tibetan calendar to celebrate the completion of the ancestral monastery of Kagyu Sect. The religious ceremonies were greatly held at that time. It is said that people would transact their business very successfully if they worship during Tsongqyue Festival. Therefore Tsongqyue Festival gradually became a very popular and splendid festival in Qamdo Prefecture in Tibet.
Qamdo Folk Custom in Tibet – Dance
Zhuo Dance
Qamdo "Zhuo Dance" is also called Qamdo "Guozhuang Dance". Qamdo "Guozhuang Dance" is showed by large numbers of people together. It is characteristic of the movements of the foot. It is the most welcomed dance in Qamdo Prefecture.
Tingqying Repa Dance
Tingqying Repa Dance is a comprehensive performance of speaking, singing, dancing, acrobatics and breathing technique. Wuto Repa Dance is most age-old dance in all the schools of Tingqying Repa Dance.
Mangkang Chord Dance
Mangkang Chord Dance is performed by many men and women together. A man will dance while play the urheen. The women will dance with the tune and chime in with men's songs together.
Qamdo Folk Custom in Tibet – Religion
Tibet Buddhism was greatly learned in Qamdo Prefecture since the 11th century. Before the introduction of Tibet Buddhism, Qamdo people mainly believed the natural deities. They thought that the deities exist everywhere in their life and fight with the devils for them. Hence they highly respected the deities and worship them very much.
Besides, people also believed the huge rocks, especially the white rock. They believed that the white rock is the essence of the snow mountain. They usually put the white stones on their roof, Manidui, or windowsill, etc.
Qamdo Folk Custom in Tibet – Taboos
The marmot was said to be the pet of the gnome's. Hence hunting the marmot is not allowed in Qamdo Prefecture. They do not eat dogs, monkeys, bears, and other animals which have the paws.
Attractions of Gonjo County
Qugong Cultural Site(曲贡文化遗址): Historic Sites, Address: Qugong Village, Xiangpi Township(相皮乡曲贡村).
Shopping in Gonjo County
There are various special local products in Tibet Qamdo Gonjo County, but please remember, bargaining with the vendors is always necessary. It is recommended that you walk clockwise around then to see the vendors. One more tip, you'd better go shopping on this street in the morning or evening for Tibetan people value their first or last customer highly.
Travel Tips:
1. As well as the Tibet Entry Permit, you also need to apply for Border Permit for traveling as this destination lies near the Chinese territory boundary.
2. Owing to the long distance and circuitous route, it is better to head for the attraction in the early morning.
3.There are inns and restaurant, where you can have a rest and a bite to eat. you can also take a picnic if you like.
4. May and September is the best time of year to visit.
5. As there is a large temperature gap between daytime and night, it is highly recommended to take along one or two pieces of thermal clothing.
