Nang County Overview

About Nang County

Nang County, located in the southwest of Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibetan Autonomous Region, is about 4,106 square kilometers with 15037 permanent residents where Tibetan is the mainly ethnic group in the county. There are also other ethnic groups such as Han, Menba（门巴人）, Mongolians and Dengren（僜人）, etc.

The Climate of Nang County

Nang County's climate is classified as warm and temperate. The summers are much rainier than the winters in Nang County with the average annual temperature of 9.8 °C and the average annual rainfall of 608 mm. The least amount of rainfall occurs in January with the average in this month of 2 mm. The greatest amount of precipitation occurs in July, with an average of 141 mm. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 17.2 °C. The lowest average temperatures in the year occur in January, when it is around 0.8 °C. The variation in the precipitation between the driest and wettest months is 139 mm. The variation in temperatures throughout the year is 16.4 °C.

The Attractions in Nang County

Nang County is rich in natural and human landscapes with abundant tourism resources, mainly including: Parchode Monastery(巴尔曲德寺), Lieshan Ancient Tomb Complex（列山古墓群）, Zili Monastery（孜立寺）, Chongkang Manor（冲康庄园）, Zarisarba Mountain（扎日莎巴山）, Laduozang Lake（拉多藏湖）, Gagong Waterfall（嘎贡瀑布）, etc.

Cultural Relics in Nang County

▪ Parchode Monastery(巴尔曲德寺) : Located in Dolpa Village of Nang Town, Nang County of Nyingchi, Parchode Monastery is 18 kilometers away from Nang County. Being on an elephant-trunk-like mountain on the north bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River, it is in the vicinity of Chongkang Manor, the birthplace of the 13th Dalai Lama. It is the largest temple in Nyingchi. The original platform where the temple lied was reminiscent of a stack of printing plates, so it was called “Parchode Monastery” (refers to “a stack of printing plates”). It is also understood as “white pagoda on terrace”.

▪ Lieshan Ancient Tomb Complex（列山古墓群）is located at the side of Linqiong Road（林邛公路）, Jindong Township（金东乡）, Nang County with an altitude of 3,200 meters. The complex is very magnificent with the peculiar building structure. The tomb reflects the burial system and burial level in Tibet over 1,000 years ago, which is of great value for the study of the rise and fall of the Tubo Regime. At the same time, it is of great significance to study the history of Tibet and the paleoclimate as well as the paleoenvironmental changes of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. In 2000, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

▪ Zili Monastery（孜立寺）is situated in Dengmu Township（登木乡） which is in the southwest of Nang County, Nyingchi Prefecture. The monastery which belongs to Nyingma sect was built in 1677 with the early name of Zilisanga Pozhang（孜立桑阿颇章）. There are some statues of the padmasambhava（莲花生）and other Buddha in the monastery. The most distinctive feature of the monastery is the religious activity, which is called Zili Wangqiamgmu（孜立旺羌姆） which is held every May 10th to 11th of the Tibetan calendar.

▪ Chongkang Manor（冲康庄园）is located in Chongkang Village（冲康村）, Nang Town, and 23 kilometers away from Nang County with an elevation of 3165 meters. The overall design of the manor house was built according to the aristocratic manor, with a total area of 7807 square meters. As time goes by, there still remain 25 pieces cultural relics after suffering and destruction. There collects the Tibetan furniture of xiii Dalai（十三世达赖）. Although it was already worn out, but it is still valuable with the very delicate technique of history, art and culture. Through the ingenuity of the past century, we can see the dignity and luxury of previous masters.

Natural Landscapes of Gongbo'gyamda County

▪ Zarisarba Mountain（扎日莎巴山）within Nang County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet is known as the Tibetan Buddhist Holy Mountain with the elevation of 4,827 meters.

▪ Laduozang Lake（拉多藏湖）is located in Zang Village（藏村）, Laduo Township（拉多乡）, Nang County with the elevation of 3700 meters, which is composed with five lakes of different types and scales, including Wangyu Pianzui Lake（万鱼偏嘴湖）, Fengzhaxi Lake（逢扎西湖）, Shenma Lake（神马湖）, Yuanhuan Lake（圆环湖） and Wei Lake（尾湖）. The five small lakes are connected by the stream and form different shapes. They are shaped like crescent and disk, and the lake is formed by mountain spring with a total area of about 6 square kilometers and an average depth of 3 to 4 meters.

▪ Gagong Waterfall（嘎贡瀑布）is located in Gagong Village（嘎贡村）, Nyingchi District, Tibet Autonomous Region, 57 kilometers away from Nang County. There are nine lakes seated in the upstream of the waterfall, which are assembled by the mountain stream, while the largest one is known as the holy lake for the local people. Every year there are local people and the pilgrimages walk around the holy lake for auspicious meaning.

The Festival and Activities in Nang County

Jindong  Renbushenshan Shengshui Festival（金东仁布神山圣水节） has a thousand years of history, which is celebrates every May 15th of Tibetan Calendar when People in Nang County will get together for the emergence of the dew and holy spring water from the mountain. They will celebrate together, singing and dancing, to thrive prosperous and wish the coming year life in peace.

Jindong Pastoralists Festival（金东牧民节） is mainly observed by the herdsmen every September 22nd of Tibetan Calendar. On that day local herders will be wearing with characteristic costumes, riding the yak, holding the incense, singing and dancing, and holding other rituals to thank herdsmen god Gongbu who give herders fruits in this year to give them a better harvest in the coming year.

The Wangguo Festival（望果节）, which has a history of more than 1000 years, is widely popular in the rural areas of Tibet. Before people preparing harvest each year, Tibetan farmers in festival costumes, holding Qiema(grain bucket)切玛 which symbolizes a golden harvest, and highland barley wine, sing and dance in the farmland, to celebrate the harvest this year and wish a better harvest next year.

With the enhancement and improvement of the living standard of the Tibetan herdsman, the content of Wangguo Festival also changed a lot from pure religious festival to the festival activities rich in contents of horse racing, archery, singing and dancing, Tibetan opera, goods exchange. The festival which integrates literature, art, sports, and business, enriched the material and cultural life of the local Tibetan farmers and herdsmen in the masses.

Local Products in Nang County

There are many kinds of special local products such as animal products, Nang County Chilli, Fritillaria thun-bergli（贝母）, trogopterus dung（五灵脂）, grape, apple, walnut, Tibetan Hat and wooden bowl, etc, especially Yak Butter Juglans regia（酥油核桃）, Nang county Chinese Prickly Ash（朗县花椒）, and Nang county Tibetan Winter Peach（朗县藏冬桃）.

Travel Tips in Nang County

1. Best Travel Time: August to October

2. Must Have Permits. Since Nyingchi is adjacent to India and Burma, more obligatory permits including Aliens’ Travel Permits, Militery Permit are required as well as Tibet Entry Permit.

3. High Altitude Precaution. Although Nyingchi is at a relatively lower elevation area, some places of high elevation like Mila Pass (5013m) may easily cause altitude reaction. Better take some medicines for relief and keep warm all the time.

4. Prepare Food and Drinks. Since tourists have to spend 8 hours on travelling from Lhasa to Nyingchi, you are suggested to get some snacks, fruit and water ready before the long riding journey. Bring your warm cloths and rain gear is always a good idea if you go to Nyingchi in summer.

Transportation in Nang County