Dinggye County, also known as “Tingkye County “, is a county in Shigatse City; it means “grow out from the bottom of the water” in Tibetan.
Location
Dinggye County is located in south of Shigatse City, and the northern foot of the Himalayas. It borders Kamba County to east, Tingri County to west, Sagya County to north, and Nepal and India to south.
Its border line is 165 kilometers long, and the county seat is Jiangga Town with altitude of 4957 meters above sea level, about 510 km away from Lhasa City, 234 km away from Shigatse City, and 365 km away from Zhangmu town
Best time to travel
From June to October
Local climate
Temperate plateau semi-arid monsoon climate
Most popular sites
Qudeng Nyima Monastery, according to Tibetan scripture records, the “Vajra Sun Pagoda” was built in the middle of the 8th century in Qudeng Nyima monastery. It is commonly called “Qudeng Nyima” and is a Nyingma Pa monastery.
Xiqiang Gompa, it was built in Shaer Township about 38 kilometers away from Dinggye county’s seat. It was built in 1560 AD (the 39th year of Emperor Jiajing of Qing Dynasty), with a construction area of 1850 square meters.
Tashi Qunpei Monastery, it is on the mountain behind Dinggye Township about 115 kilometers away from county seat. It was built in 1384 AD with a building area of 1,300 square meters. It belongs to Gelug pa of Tibetan Buddhism
Geography and climate
Dinggye County is located in the lake basin area at northern foot of Himalayas. Its terrain is high in north and south, and low in middle.
The eastern part is a plateau lake basin centered on Cuomze Forest, with an average elevation of 4,500 meters, and the terrain is broad and flat.
The central and western regions are valley areas with two main lines of Yeru Tsangbo and Jinlong River.
In its south, it is alpine region of spine of Himalayas, with an altitude of 4700 meters or more, mostly glaciers and snow mountains.
Its southwest is Chentang Canyon area, which is located in southern wing of main ridge of Himalayas. The terrain of this canyon varies greatly, with an average elevation of 2500 meters, and most of it is virgin forest.
Except for Chentang forest area in southwest of Dinggye County, which is affected by Indian Ocean climate, which results the mild climate, rains in summer and autumn are abundant, the four seasons are distinct, and frost-free period is long.
Howeve, four seasons in most other areas are not clear, with sufficient sunshine, strong ultraviolet rays, and large temperature differences between day and night. Dry and less rain, much wind, bad weather. The temperature difference in four seasons is small, cold in winter and not hot in summer.
Annual average temperature is 2℃. Average temperature in January is -8°C. The extreme minimum temperature averages -27°C. The average temperature in July is 12°C. The averages extreme maximum temperature is 18°C.
Annual average sunshine in the main agricultural and pastoral areas of Dinggye County is 3326 hours, and the relative frost-free period is 100 days.
Population and ethnicity
As of 2013, Dingjie County has a total population of 16,000, of which the Tibetan population accounts for 91% of the total population. Other ethnic groups include Han, Hui, Mongolian, etc.
Brief History
In 14th year of Yuan Dynasty (1354 AD), during the reign of Phagmo Drupa regime, Dinggye Zong was established.
In Qing Dynasty(AD 1616 – AD 1912), it was under jurisdiction of Kashag regime
In 1960, Dinggye Zong, Khampa Zong, Jinlongka and Kongma areas were merged to form Dinggye County
In 1962, Kamba District and Tagye District were divided from Dinggye County to form Kamba County. In the same year, Dinggye County seat was moved from Dinggye Village to Jiangga town. It is under jurisdiction of Shigatse Prefecture Administrative Office.
In 2014, Shigatse Prefecture was abolished and the prefecture-level Shigatse City was established, and Dinggye County has been under jurisdiction of Shigatse City since then
