Nyalam County is a county located in the south of Shigatse City. Nyalam means “the way of the elephant neck” in Tibetan, and it is usually understood and translated as “the road to hell” in Chinese. During the Yuan Dynasty, the administrative regions belonging to China were under the jurisdiction of the central government.
The Lhasa-Kathmandu Highway runs through Nyalam county. The Nyalam Port located in Zhangmu Town is the only foreign trade port in Tibet, only 30 kilometers away from Nyalam County.
Nyalam County is one of the border counties in Tibet, with a border of 14 kilometers long; it is connected to the four counties of Tingri, Ngamring , Saga, and Gyirong on the east, north, and west, and neighbors Nepal on the south. The county seat Nyalam Town is 3,750 meters above sea level, 443 kilometers away from Shigatse City, 780 kilometers away from Lhasa City, and 140 kilometers from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
Best travel time All year around
Local climate Plateau temperate semi-humid climate zone
Most popular sites
Lhotse Peak, 8516 meters above sea level, is the fourth highest peak in the world. Located 3 kilometers south of Mount Everest, they are separated by a col, which is commonly referred to as the “South Col”. It is bounded by the north ridge and the southeast ridge of the mountain, the east side is in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and the west side belongs to the Kingdom of Nepal.
Paiku Co, located in Nyalam County, 250 kilometers away from Tingri County. Paiku Co is the largest lake in Shigatse, covering an area of more than 300 square kilometers. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with an open terrain and rich fish resources. There are wild horses, Tibetan wild donkeys, Tibetan antelopes, cranes, yellow ducks, gray ducks and other activities on the lakeshore.
Shishapangma Peak, at an altitude of 8,012 meters, ranks 14th among the 14 8,000-meter-level peaks in the world, and is the only 8,000-meter-level peak entirely in China. This is one of the centers of modern glaciation in the Himalayas. The entire Kugangri mountain glaciers and permanent snow covering an area of 6000 square kilometers are mostly distributed around Shishapangma Peak.
Geography and climate
Nyalam County is with altitude of 3,800 meters. The lowest point is the No. 54 border pile on the Sino-Nepal border, which is only 1433 meters above sea level. The highest point is the world’s fourteenth peak at an altitude of 8012 meters – Shishapangma Peak. The relative height is 6579 meters and the area is 8684 square kilometers.
Nyalam County is located in the Himalayas. The county is mainly composed of mountains. It can be divided into 5 landform types from south to north:
Alpine valley area at the southern foot of the Himalayas;
High mountains in the Himalayas
Pekuco Plateau Lake Basin,
Suozuo valley area,
Larail Gang Ri high mountain. It belongs to the Mount Everest Nature Reserve and has two core reserves, Xuebugang and Xifeng.
Nyalam County is bounded by the main ridgeline of Himalayas and can be divided into north and south climate types
–The climate of Zhangmu Town in the southern district are: high temperature, heavy rainfall, average annual temperature between 10-20°C, precipitation of 2000-2500 mm, and frost-free period of about 250 days.
–The climate in the North District is: high cold, drought and little rain, with an average annual temperature of 3.5°C, and a precipitation of 1100 mm from the county seat to Yalai Township. The precipitation in the 4 townships north of Tongla Mountain is 200 mm to 300 mm, and the frost-free period in the northern area is 113 days.
Population and ethnicity
As of the end of 2005, the total population of Nyalam County was 15,000, of which the Tibetan population accounted for 87% of the total population, in addition to Han, Hui, Tujia, Sherpa and Nepalese, as well as Kachar (Tibetan and Nepalese Mixed race)
Brief History
During the Yuan Dynasty, the administrative regions were under the jurisdiction of the central government;
In 1276 AD, it was an administrative district of Ngari region
In 1618 AD, it was officially under the jurisdiction of Dbus-Gtsang
In 1751, the government of Qing Dynasty abolished Tibetan kingship, and Kashag regime was established, then to establish Nyalam Zong, which belongs to the jurisdiction of Ngari Administrative Area
In 1960, Nyalam county was formally established, and being placed under the jurisdiction of the Shigatse Prefecture
In 2014, Shigatse Prefecture was abolished and the prefecture-level Shigatse City was established, and Nyalam County has been under jurisdiction of Shigatse City since then
