Shigatse Tibet Travel

ABOUT US

PARTNERS

Choose Language
Choose Theme

Home : Travel Guide : Shigatse

Shigatse : Tibet's second largest city

Other Name

Xigaze

Languages Spoken

Tibetian

Importance

Mt Everest

International Access

Lhasa airport

Area

3875 sq km

Best Time To Visit

October To April & July for enjoying festival.

Location: Shigatse connects with three countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim in the south, Ngari in the west, Nagqu in the north and Lhasa and Shannan in the east. It occupies an area of 176,000 square kilometers, the latitude being between 82''E and 92''20''''E and longitude between 27''23''''N and 31''49''''N. It is 800 kilometers from east to west and 220 kilometers from north to south, with a border of 1,354 kilometers.On the southwest frontier of China and in the southwest of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Shigatse connects with Ali to the west, leans Nagqu to the north, adjoins Lhasa and Shannan to the east and borders on Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim etc., sharing a part of frontier of 1,753 kilometers. It has an area of 3,875 square kilometers and average altitude above 3800 meters. There are one county-level city (Shigatse), seventeen counties (Gyantse, Bailang, Kangma, Yatung, Renbu, Nanmulin, Xietongmen, Lhatse, Sakya, Gangba, Tingjie, Tingri, Nyalam, Jilong, Angren, Saga and Zhongba), one port (Zhangmu, the biggest national commercial port in Tibet), 226 villages and 1,748 neighborhood committees. Its acreage under cultivation is 1250, 000mu(83333 hectares), the practical area of grassland 11,400,000mu(760000 hectares) and forest covers 146,2000mu(974666 hectares).

Climate: There are mainly 3 kinds of regional climate in Shigatse: temperate semiarid monsoon climate of plateau in the region north of the Himalayas and south of the Nyainqentanglha, semi-frigid semiarid and arid monsoon climate of plateau in a few regions north of the Nyainqentanglha and temperate monsoon semi-humid climate of plateau in the region south of the main ridge of the Himalayas. The general weather characteristics are as following:

Description: In order to appreciate the spectacularity of ‘the third pole’, ambitious people come here from a great distance desiring to realize the dream of challenging the utmost limits of human being. And that is the charm of Everest. It is the pride of Shigatse that has become one of the most charming tourist attractions in Tibet.
Located in the alluvial plain at the confluence of Brahmaputra and Nianchuhe rivers, Shigatse is 273 kilometers west to Lhasa. At an elevation of 3,800 meters, with the area of 3,875 square kilometers and population of 820,000, it is the second biggest and the only county-level city in Tibet. Also, it is an ancient city in the altiplano with a history of nearly 600 years. It is named Xikasangzhuzi in Tibetan, and Xikazi for short, which stands for ‘a manor of the most fertile soil’, and it is transliterated into Chinese as ‘Shigatse’. In the middle of the 13th century AD, the Yuan Dynasty set up 130,000 Hus (households) in Tibet and the region where now Shigatse covers was under the jurisdiction of the Xialu master. In the early 14th century, Great Situ (Minister of Education in ancient China), Jiangqujianzan, built Pazhu Dynasty to replace Sajia Dynasty, removing the political center in the lower reaches of Nianchuhe from Xialu to Shigatse and setting up Xikasangzhuzi there.
Features of the City
Shigatse is the most colorful area in Tibet with vast grasslands, fertile fields in river valleys, flourishing semitropical jungles and snowfields at high altitudes. The famous scenery spots include Xiqin Spring, Yatung Spring, Yongzelucuo Lake, Tashilumpo Monastery, Palkor Monastery in Gyantse, Sakya Monastery, Pingcuolin Monastery, Juenang Monastery, Pala Manor and etc. Furthermore, the Everest Nature Reserve, with an area of more than 30,000 square kilometers, is around it. The annual Zhanfo Festival and Tiaoshen Festival in Tashilumpo Monastery, Ximuqinbo Festival in Xialu Monastery and Tibetan drama shows have won a high prestige in the world for their distinct styles. In addition, Shigatse is rich in medicine resources, among which there are more than 300 kinds of medicines for common use, such as aweto, fritillaria, gastrodia tuber, hsueh-lien-hua, rhodiola root and rhubarb.

Attractions

Feedback

Site is best viewed using Mozilla, Netscape 6+ and IE 6.0+ at a resolution of 800 x 600. Go to t2india Home Page | Send Feedback on t2tibet © Prakriti Inbound Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy