Chindu County is also known as “Trindu County” in Tibetan, OR “Chenduo County” in Chinese Pinyin. It is one of counties in National River Source Nature Reserve and one of the source counties.
Location
It is located in eastern part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, southern of Qinghai Province, and northeastern of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
With 214 National Road as the main way, Chindu is directly connected to Xining, or to Chengdu in Sichuan, and connected with National road 109 in north.
Best time to travel
From July to September
Local climate
Plateau continental climate
Resources of water and wildlife
Bayan Har Mountain, a branch in the middle section of Kunlun Mountain, lies in north of Chindu County. It is watershed between Yangtze River and Yellow River. The main peak is 5,267 meters. The turbulent Tongtian River flows from west to east and has been a natural barrier for Chindu County.
There are dense rivers in Chindu County, with large river drop and abundant water resources. The main rivers include Tongtian River, Zha Qu, Duo Qu, Xi Qu, De Qu, etc. (“Qu” means river in Tibetan), and there are countless lakes dotted in its vast grassland
Local wildlife resources are very rich. There are more than 60 species of fine pastures, more than 200 species of wild medicinal plants, including Cordyceps, Fritillaria, rhubarb, etc.; more than 80 species of wild animals, including white-lipped deer, horse musk deer, and lynx.
Most popular sites
San-jiang-yuan Nature Reserve, “San-jiang-yuan ” means the sources of “Three rivers”. The reserve is in an area that Tongtian River runs thgough. The source of Yangtze River is an area with the most significant biodiversity in high-altitude areas, and being known as a natural germplasm resource bank for alpine organisms. The San-jiang-yuan region has a unique and typical alpine ecosystem, which is a typical representative of alpine environment of the Central Asian plateau
Gado Jowo Holy mountain, it is located in Gaduo Township, about 140 kilometers away from Chengduo County, the mountain is composed of 28 surrounding peaks, its main peak is 5395 meters above sea level. It is known as one of the four sacred mountains of Tibetan Buddhism along with Kailash in Tibet, Kawagarbo in Yunnan and Amye Machen in Qinghai.
Ga Zang (Karzang) monastery, it is the oldest and largest Sakya pa monastery in this county. Ga Zang Temple is also known as “Dogon Puntso Dargyeling” in Tibetan. It is located in Chengwen Township, 5 kilometers away from county seat.
Xiewu monastery, also Zhiwu Dorgon monastery, is located in Xiewu Township at intersection of 214 National Road and Sichuan – Qinghai Road. The monastery was first built in early 11th century and was originally Kagyu Sect. The important cultural relics of Xiewu monastery include newly built statues of five ancestors of Sakya pa, eight monks tomb towers, and 300 collections of Buddhist scriptures.
Saiba monastery, it mainly has an exhibition hall of religious and cultural. There are nearly 10,000 species of rare animals on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Khampa custom articles and various religious relics, which are helpful to investigation and study of Tibetan culture, history, customs in Khampa area.
Ancient Rock Painting, about 143 ancient rock painting groups have been discovered in Bailong Village, Chengwen Town, among which the earliest individual rock paintings are about 2000 years old.
Geography and climate
The north and west of Chindu County are bordered by Qumarleb County, southeast is adjacent to Sershul County of Sichuan Province, and Yushu City is in southwest.
It is 160 kilometers wide from east to west and 209 kilometers from north to south. The county has a total area of 15,300 square kilometers. The terrain in the territory is complex with an average elevation of about 4500 meters.
The terrain is mountainous. Tongtian River cuts into deep valleys from southwest. Many small rivers also form deep valleys in many places. It gradually slopes from northwest to southeast, forming a middle low and high in surrounding area and undulating mountain basins.
Chindu County has a cold temperate continental monsoon climate, with large temperature differences between morning and evening, strong spring winds, mild and rainy summers, cool autumns and long winters. The overall temperature is low, with an annual average of -1.6°C, and a short frost-free period, about 93 – 126 days.
Population and ethnic group
As of 2013, Chindu’s total population is 63,000, including Ethnic minorities of Wenbao, Labu, Kana, Huma, Bairimai,Chinese Han people….etc, Among them, Tibetans account for about 95%.
Brief History
In ancient times, it was Nomads area.
In Dynasties of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was part of Sum-pa kingdom.
Sum-pa was a highly civilized tribe in Tibetan history. Its original settlement was in an area of Nanmulin County in Shigatse region of Tibet. It gradually expanded eastward to northwest of Chamdo and southeast of Qinghai. “New History of Tang Dynasty” says that Sum-pa was “Western Qiang Nomad”. It can be seen that Sum-pa originally belonged to Qiang ethnic group. However, some Sinologists believe that Sum-pa was a tribe of Tibetan, the name of Sum-pa is also known as “Supi” or “Sun bo” in chinese, which is regarded as the name of Qiang ethnic group, and “Sun Bo” is name of Tubo.
In Tang dynasty, it is under jurisdiction of Tubo kingdom.
In Yuan dynasty, it belonged to ancient Kham region
In Ming and Qing Dynasties, it belonged to Heshuote Mongolian regime
At beginning of Republic of China, it was subordinated to Qinghai province.
In 6th year of Republic of China (1917), it was under jurisdiction of Yushu County.
In 26th year of Republic of China (1937), Chindu County was set up
In 1951, Chindu County was officially established, and under jurisdiction of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
