Nyemo County means “wheat ear” in Tibetan, it is a county of Lhasa City with location in south-central part of Tibet Autonomous Region, about 147 kilometers away from Lhasa City. It is at junction of the “U” and “Tsang“.
Location
The county seat is Tarong Town. It is adjacent to Namling County of Shigatse City to west, Qushui County to east, Rinbung County of Shigatse City and Nagarze County of Shannan City to south, and Damxung County to north.
The history of Nyemo County can be traced back to Yuan Dynasty (1271-AD 1368), and it is hometown of the creator of Tibetan script “Thonmi Sambhota“.
Toga, a holy site of Nyingma pa in its early period, Jiga Chode built by Trisong Detsen in the 8th century, and the Nimu cable bridge built by ancient Tibetan bridge-building expert “Thangtong Gyalpo“. Nyemo paper, Nimu Tibetan incense and Pusong carvings are called “Three top products of Nimu”
Best time to travel
From May to October
Local climate
Temperate plateau semi-arid monsoon climate
Most popular sites
Tunda Village is located at the bottom of Tunda Valley, about 138 kilometers away from Lhasa City and 14 kilometers away from Tarong Town, the capital of Nyemo County. It is a traditional handmade water mill Tibetan incense production site. Up to now, there are still 135 Tibetan incense water-mills distributed along the river.
The resident of “Thonmi Sambhota”, it is a typical Tibetan building which used to have two floors, but only one storey remained with location in Tunda Village
Mizhu Tongmenlin Monastery is located in Sangri Village of Tarong Town. It was built in 1240 and it is the only Bon tradition monastery in the great area of Lhasa. It was reopened after restoration in 1986. The monastery covers an area of 947 square meters, and there are more than ten precious cultural relics. Among those, there is one well-preserved Bon murals and an ancient rattan shields
Nyemo Iron-Chain Bridge was built by Tibetan bridge expert “Thangtong Gyalpo” over the Lhasa River for six years in the first half of 15th century.
Geography and climate
Nyemo County is located on the north bank of the middle reaches of Yarlung Tsangbo River. The terrain is high in north and low in south. The valley areas on both sides of Nyemo River are flat.
Average altitude is over 3800 meters. The highest point in its territory is Qiongmu Gangri Peak, which is 7048 meters above sea level. The lowest point is where Maqu River merges into theYarlung Zangbo River, which is 3701 meters above sea level.
Nyemo County belongs to plateau temperate semi-arid monsoon climate zone, with four distinct seasons, concentrated rain in summer, strong radiation, and 2948 hours of sunshine per year.
Average annual temperature is 6.7℃, average temperature in January is -40℃, average temperature in July is 15.0℃, annual precipitation is 295.3 mm, and the frost-free period is 100 days
Population and ethnicity
As of 2012, the total population of Nimu County was 34,044 people, of which Tibetans accounted for 99% of total population. Other ethnic groups include Han, Hui, Miao, Mongolian, etc.
Brief history
In the period of Tubo kingdom (7th century ), it was under jurisdiction of “Wu Ru” (“Ru” is name of administrative area of ancient Tibet),
After 9th century, when Tubo dynasty collapsed, the land of Nyemo was under jurisdiction of noble “Xinang clan”.
In 13th century, it belonged to sphere of influence of Xiang Wanhu
In Yuan Dynasty, Nyemo Zong was established
In Qing Dynasty, There were two zongs of Nyemo and Majiang were established separately
In 1959, Nyemo Zong and Majiang Zong were merged to be Nyemo County, under jurisdiction of Lhasa City.
