Sangri County Overview
About Sangri County
Sangri County is located in Lhoka Prefecture, the southeast of Tibet Autonomous Region, covering a total area of 2633.62 square kilometers with 15,746 people living here.
The Climate in Sangri County
The climate here is mild, and generally warm and temperate. The summers are much rainier than the winters in Sangri. The average temperature in Sangri is 17.2 °C. About 1680 mm of precipitation falls annually.
Between the driest and wettest months, the difference in precipitation is 418 mm. The variation in temperatures throughout the year is 13.7 °C.
The Attractions of Sangri County
Cultural relics of Sangri County
▪ Dansati Monastery（丹萨梯寺）is located in the south of the Sangri County（桑日县），Pamuzhu Ferry（帕木竹渡口）of Yarlung Zangbo River. It was built in 1158 AD by the Kagyu monks covering an area of more than 300,000 square meters.
▪ Qulong Monastery（曲龙寺）is located in the south of the village government of Woka Township（沃卡乡）, Sangri County（桑日县）, Lhoka District, Tibet autonomous region. It stands on the hill, with its back on the majestic Wode Gongjie Snow Mountain（德贡杰雪山）, facing the vast Woka Grassland（沃卡草原）.
▪ Zengqi Monastery（增期寺）is located in Zengqi Township（增期乡）, Sangri County（桑日县）, which has obvious characteristics of early monastery.
▪ Qiagaqude Monastery（恰嘎曲德寺）which is located in the west of the village government of Sangri County（桑日县）was built in the late 16th century with a total area of 2,000 square meters.
▪ Luding Pozhang（鲁定颇章）is located 1.5 kilometers east of Sangri County（桑日县）, which is the post station that Dalai lama stayed in during the pilgrimage to Jiacha Holy Lake（加查神湖）.
▪ Luding Linka（鲁定林卡）is located about 1.5 kilometers east of Sangri County（桑日县）, which is the worship and faithful land of the Dalai lama.
Natural Landscapes of Sangri County
▪ Dagu Canyon Scenic Spot（达古峡谷景区）, located at Yajiang Gorge, the junction of Sangri County（桑日县）and Gyaca County（加查县）, is the second grand canyon in Tibet.
▪ Woka Scenic Area（沃卡景区）is famous for Wode Gongjie Snow Mountain（沃德贡杰雪山）, the three holy rivers (Zengqi River（增期河）, Heilong River（黑龙河） and Derimu River（德日木河）) and the seven hot springs. They are known as "Woka Three St"（沃卡三圣）.
▪ Sijinlacuo Lake（思金拉错湖）in Tibetan language is a holy lake with mysterious power, which is located in the northern part of Sangri County with an altitude of 4,500 meters. It is shaped like a treasure basin.
▪ Sangri Wapiti Natural Reserve（桑日马鹿自然保护区）covers an area of about 180,000 hectares. The Tibetan Wapiti are only distributed in the Gongbula Mountain（贡布拉山）area of Sangri County, Lhoka Prefecture, Tibet.
▪ Gongdelin Grassland（贡德林草原）which is situated in Zengqi Township（增期乡）, Sangri County（桑日县）, is one of the important attractions of south Tibet travel line with its vast and fertilizer grassland, cow and horse. It is one of the most famous Tibet yak butter origins which are known as the "imperial grassland" for the Dalai Lama and the dignitaries.
Local Specialties in Sangri County
Stone Pot（石锅）is produced in Dagu Village（达古村）, Zengqi Township（增期乡）, Sangri County（桑日县）. Local farmers and herdsmen usually use the multi-purpose vessels collected materials which are similar to the jade from remote mountains to make the commonly used stone pot, stone hoarding, stone bowl, stone tray, etc. They are collectively known as the stone pot.
Zhalang Wickerwork（扎嘎柳编）: Rongxiang Township（绒乡）, Zhalang Area（扎嘎地区）is rich in willow artwork, and the local farmers and herdsmen weave various baskets with the willow, such as grain storage bin, dosser baskets, and livestock cribs, which are more famous in the central districts of the Lhoka Prefecture, Sangri County.
There are also other special products in Sangri County including Dagu wooden bowl（达沽木碗）, Waka tallowtree seed oil（沃卡青油）, Sangri hand-made Tibetan Carpet（桑日手工藏式卡垫）, Sangri Tibetan eggs（桑日藏鸡蛋）, Sangri cordyceps（桑日虫草）, Fritillaria thun-bergli（贝母）and so on.
The Festival and Activities in Sangri County
Many festivals are held in Lhoka region in its counties, district, monasteries and villages to celebrate the harvest season, the New Year or Losar and natural elements such as birds. A colorful and widely celebrated festival is the Ongkor (Bumper Harvest) Festival which is observed in June according to the Tibetan calendar, in the riverine areas to mark good harvests of the season.
Ongkor Festival
As the crop-ripening time approaches, Tibetan farmers begin to celebrate the Ongkor Festival, which is prevalent in rural areas, especially in those areas along the middle reach of the Yarlung Zangbo River and Lhasa River Valley.
In Tibetan language, "Ong" means the field and "Kor" means walking around, so it means walking around the crop fields to express the farmers' yearning for a good harvest.
Each year at the crop-ripening time, often falls on the sixth or seventh month of Tibetan calendar, the monks of the monasteries nearby will select an auspicious day to stage the festival, during which the people, all dressed up, carrying barley beer and food, follow the monks, who hold high the Buddhist images, scriptures and prayer flags, and march around their ripening fields and yell for the deity's and Buddha's blessing.
Afterwards, they will have horse racing, archery contests and song and dance performances all night, shifting the atmosphere from solemnity to joyfulness.
The date of the festival in different places varies according to ripening of the crops. As long as you don't mind running from one place to another, you may possibly participate in several Ongkor festivals in a string.
Festival of birds
The festival for worship of birds is called in Chinese ’yingniao jie.’ It is a religious festival that is special to the Bon or Bonpo community, which still practices the original pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet known as Bön. During this festival, cuckoo, the spring bird, which is considered the king of all birds arrives in the naidong qiasalakang temple in Tsedang, the Bird’s temple; according to a specific Tibetan calendar date, corresponding to May as per Gregorian calendar. The festival is also observed in a different month at the Reting Monastery and celebrated till the Cuckoo is seen chirping and accepting food offerings in the monastery grounds. The bird temple has a large Buddha statue cast by King Baikezan. On this occasion birds are given a red carpet welcome at Linka with a tribute of food items such as the Tibetan Highland barley, wheat, peas and other grains on a platter placed on a table. Two butter lamps are also lighted near the table. Two lamas are specially deputed from Lhasa to organise and perform this religious festival. The first cuckoo bird known locally as “Kuda” arrives as a messenger of the Cuckoo king of birds and after a survey of the arrangements made in the Linka, the chief Cuckoo bird arrives formally by performing “Xiezha” at the grounds where a table is set with offerings for the bird. Arrival of these spring birds every year and hearing its chirping is considered as an auspicious sign by the Tibetan people to usher a good cropping season; the birds have been the mascot for Tibetan people since ancient times.
The Travel Tips in Sangri County
1. The best time to visit Sangri County is Summer and Autumn with the pleasant and lively weather.
2. Suggested Traveling Day: Three Days
3. High Altitude Precaution. Although Lhoka is at a relatively lower elevation area, some places of high elevation 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 Sangri County, 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 Sangri County in summer.
The Transportation of Sangri County
The Highway
306 provincial highway (Nedong - Nyingchi) is Sangri County highway which starts from Minze Village, traveling along the southern bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River, the east of Sangri County, Rongxiang Township to Luomude Village, and finally it ends in Qusong County, all about 26.5 kilometers long.
The Railway
The Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway tracks across the whole Sangri County.
