Gongbo Gyamda County is a subordinate county to Nyingchi. Gongbo Gyamda means “the entrance to a valley with a large depression” in Tibetan
Gongbo Gyamda is also spelled as “Gong bu jiang da County” OR “Ngapo Gyamda (previously Gyamda Zong)”
Location
It is adjacent to Bayi District and Bome County of Nyingchi City to east, Lhari County of Nagqu City to north, Maizhokunggar County of Lhasa City to west, and to south of Mainling County, Nang County, Gyaca County and Sangri County of Shannan City
Gongbo Gyamda County is the birthplace of Niyang River, and there are popular scenic spots such as Ba Songcuo, Taizhao Ancient City, Baga Temple, etc.
Gongbo Gyamda is the last place that peach blossoms are in the entire Nyingchi area. Among of which, Laru Village is the best place to enjoy the view of peach blossoms of Gongbo Gyamda County
Best travel time
From June to September
Local climate
Plateau climate
Most popular view spots
Basongcuo lake Basongcuo, which means “Three Rock Lake” in Tibetan, is located in Cuogao Township, 83 kilometers away from the county seat. It is a famous sacred lake and holy land of Nyingma. The lake has an average elevation of 3465 meters, crescent-shaped, with a total area of 37.5 square kilometers, and the average depth of the lake is more than 60 meters.
The lake is surrounded by mountains, dense virgin forests, and a wide variety of animals and plants. In the center of the lake, there are Cuozong Temple and “Peach and Pine Trees” on Tashi Island. There are also scenic spots by the lake, such as the “Qiuzi Cave”, “Lotus Cultivation Cave”, “King Gesar Archery Test”, and the ancient castles of Xueka Village. Cuegao Lake Cora Festival is held every year on 15th day of 4th month in Tibetan calendar
Taizhao Ancient City It is located in Taizhao Village. In Qing Dynasty(AD 1616-AD 1912), it was developed from a post and barracks into a city. At the end of Qing Dynasty, the city had a large population and numerous shops. In the scenic area, ancient buildings such as Taizhao Dzong Government and Taizhao Ancient Post Station were restored, and Taizhao Ancient City Museum was newly built.
Xiuba Castle Xiuba Castle is one of the largest and most well-preserved Castle in this county. The castle was built in late Tang Dynasty (AD 618-AD 907) and has a history of more than 1,600 years.
The ancient castle complex is located in Xiuba Village and was built in late Tang Dynasty. It includes 5 forts of different heights, separated by 30 to 50 meters, covering an area of more than 800 square meters. The castle is about 50 to 60 meters high. It is made of slabs and wooden boards. It is hollow and has no roof. It has a twelve prism shape in appearance and an octagonal shape inside. The top floor of the castle is expected to have holes for observation or defense. The castle can also set off wolf-smoke to transmit information to a distance. Surrounded by stone barracks, the castle is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Baga monastery (Paga monastery) Baga monastery is located in Niangpu Township and was built in the period of the Fifth Dalai Lama, belonging to Gelug pa. There were relics of Tsongkhapa’s clothes, hats, shoes and socks in monastery. The Paga sacred mountain at the back of the monastery resembles the goddess Dorje Pam. The cave of goddess Dorje Pam on the mountainside is called “sacred cave”, and there is also “Paga sacred spring””
Geography and climate
Gongbo Gyamda County is located in the transition zone from valleys of southern Tibet to alpine valleys of eastern Tibet. It is a deep-cut alpine valley landform with an average elevation of 3,600 meters.
The county is 180 kilometers from east to west, 71 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of 11,650 square kilometers. It is 270 kilometers away from Lhasa, and 130 kilometers away from Nyingchi City.
It belongs to the temperate semi-humid plateau monsoon climate, weather in its east is mild and humid, the forest is dense, the west is cold and dry, and it is shrub meadow vegetation. Niyang River, a tributary of Yarlung Zangbo River, runs through the entire territory.
Gongbo Gyamda Ethnic group
Gongbo Gyamda County is almost a single Tibetan residential area, Tibetans, Monba and Luoba ethnic groups are the main residents, and accounting for 93.51% of the total population; the rest are some Chinese Han people, Hui people, Sala people, Manchu people, Miao people, Yi people, Tu people and Pumi people,
Religious belief
Tibetan Buddhist sects in Gongbujiangda County mainly include Nyingma (Red Sect), Kagyu (White sect) and Gelug (Yellow Sect). In addition, a small number of farmers and herdsmen believe in primitive Tibetan religion of Bon.
Nyingma School was introduced around 13th century
Kagyu School was introduced around 12th century
Gelug School was introduced in the middle of 16th century
Local Festival
Most farmers and herdsmen in Gongbo Gyamda County celebrate Tibetan New Year, the traditional Tibetan festival, which lasts from 29th of 12th month to 15th of the first month of a new year.
Spring Sowing Festival (Sowing Festival, Trial Seeding Festival) is held on an auspicious day in the first month. Young men and women dressed in costumes pull bulls, help plows, fertilize, and sow seeds, praying to the gods of the land to bless harvest; then the villagers drink, sing, and dance. .
Saga Dawa Festival on 15th day of 4th of Tibetan calendar is the anniversary of birth, enlightenment and death of Sakyamuni. For the good and longevity, people release fish, cattle, sheep, horses and other animals on this day.
From the 1st to 15th day of 5th of Tibetan calendar is Linka Festival. People dressed in costumes go to Linka for fun and picnics.
Four villages of Langse, Xuba, Garang, and Dingdang in Bahe Town celebrated Gongbu New Year on the first day of 104th month of Tibetan calendar. Legend has it that “Hor” invaded southeastern Tibet more than 700 years ago. The King of Gongbu led men of Gongbu on expedition. It was September, in order to allow soldiers to go on the expedition after the New Year, the New Year was advanced to the first day of 10th Month of Tibetan calendar. Since then, Gongbu area has formed a custom of celebrating New Year in the first day of tenth month of Tibetan calendar. Compared with Tibetan New Year in other regions, Gongbu New Year has obvious characteristics of forest area, with customs such as “casting out ghosts”, inviting dogs to eat, eating “knot”, carrying water, and offering sacrifices to the goddess of harvest.
Cuogao Lake Cora Festival is held on the 15th day of the 1st month and 4th month of Tibetan calendar. On the 15th day of the first month, the monks and nuns chant, pray, and simmer mulberries on the dam. On 15th day of 4th month, believers from all over the country gathered here, erected new sutra poles, held Buddhist activities, and circled the lake clockwise; people hung “wind horses” and small prayer flags on the branches and played the traditional dance “Geng”. There shall be a folk dance competition.
Every year during autumn harvest season on 4th day of 6thmonth of Tibetan calendar, “Qu Guo” festival is held in Jieding Village. The villagers first held “Qu Guo” ceremony (carrying the sutras walk around the fields to make cora), and then the honorable people walked along “sacred ruins” with nine palaces and eight diagrams, followed by young men holding prayer flags and portraits of the land gods, playing drums and trumpets, and a young woman who sings the song “Mani” wishing a good harvest. Then went to Gadogang Monastery walking around the main hall for three times, the abbot offered hadhas to team members, whom sang and danced around the prayer flags, praying for good weather, auspicious happiness, and then sent the sutra into the hall, eating picnics, dancing (Guozhuang)
Local Dialect
Gongbo Gyamda County belongs to U-Tsang dialect of Tibetan, it is one of the three main tibetan dialect, and similar to Kham dialect; This dialect features 4 tones (high flat tone, high falling tone, low rising tone, low falling tone), 30 consonants and 4 vowels; the basic structure of the sentence is ” Subject-object predicate”, personal pronouns are singular and plural, honorifics are rarely used, and there are many Chinese loan words and some English and Hindi loan words.
Gongbo Gyamda County is located in a high mountain and valley area, with a relatively closed environment. There are many native languages in the territory, including four sub-dialect: Ape, Niangpu, Zhula Bahe, and Cuogao (Basong).
Among them, “Ape” is mainly distributed in Zhongsha Township, Jiangda Township, and Gongbujiangda Town;
“Niangpu” native language is mainly distributed in Niangpu, Jiaxing, and Jinda, and they are mostly communicated in Tibetan of northern Tibet;
“Zhula Bahe” is mainly distributed in Zhula Township and Bahe Township, the residents of the Zhula River area all use the Zhula dialect;
“Cuogao” dialect is a unique dialect of U-Zang dialect, which is only used by locals of Cuogao Township and some residents of Bahe Township. Few people in other areas can understand it.
Brief History
–In the 1st century AD, Xia Chi, the seventh-generation Zanpu eldest son of Yalong Xibuye tribe, fled to Gongbu and became the ruler of ancient Gongbu region. He was known as the King of Gonggabu in history.
–The second son, Nie Chi, fled to Niangbo, and later became the king of Niangbo, known in history as Niangzun Jebu(the king of Niangzun), and the ancient Jiangda area was ruled by king of Niangbo.
–In 7th century, Songtsen Gampo unified U-Tsang, established Tubo kingdom, and divided its ruling area into 5 “Ru“. Gongbo Jiangda belongs to “Yo Ru”. Because the descendants of Nangbo kings have the blood of Zanpu royal family, according to the covenant, the Gongbo area became the traditional hereditary territory of Nangbo descendants.
–In 869 AD, in Tibetan calendar year of Ox (10thyears of Tang Xiantong), Tubo kingdom collapsed. After that, Tibet fell into a separatist period of more than four hundred years, forming a separatist regime ruled by descendants of Tubo royal family and nobles. The territory of Gongbo Jiangda was still ruled by descendants of King Nangbo.
–In 1260 AD, 4th Raojiong Year of Iron Monkey in Tibetan calendar (the first year of Jingding in Southern Song Dynasty), Tubo was annexed to Mongolia, and 13 Wan-Hu (“Wan-Hu” means “Ten thousand households”) were established in Tibetan areas. Gongbu Jiangda area was under to jurisdiction of Drigung Wan-hu and Pazhu Wan-hu. It is greatly influenced by Drigung Wan-hu and Pazhu Wan-hu who believe in Kagyu pa. However, due to its relatively remote location and far from the center of governance, it remains relatively independent.
–From the middle of 13th century to the middle of 14th century, Yuan Dynasty(AD 1271-AD 1368) established local government, and Gongbo Gyamda was under its jurisdiction.
–In 7th year of Hongwu of Ming Dynasty (AD 1374), Xi’an Command Envoy was setup in Hezhou to govern all Tibetan areas. Later, it was reorganized to set up Wusi Zangdu Commanding Envoy, and Gongbujiangda was under jurisdiction of it.
–In 15th year of Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty (1642 AD), the 5th Dalai Lama established Ganden Pozhang regime. Later, Gyamda Dzong and Xueka Dzong were established. Because it borders Gongbu region at the lower reaches of Niangqu (Niyang River) where Gyamda is located, and is separated by no natural mountains and rivers, and the culture and living customs of the two places are close, Gyamda then was gradually incorporated into Gongbu area and is called Gongbu Gyamda. It means the Gyamda of Gongbo.
–In May 1951, Bome Division of Work Committee was established, and Gongbu Jiangda was under its jurisdiction.
–In January 1960, it was changed to Gongbo Gyamda County.
–In February 1986, Nyingchi Prefecture was restored
–In March 2015, Nyingchi area was abolished and the prefecture-level Nyingchi City was established. Gongbo Gyamda County has been under jurisdiction of Nyingchi City.
