Shuanghu County means “Two lakes” in Tibetan, it is named after it is located by Kangru Lake and Rejo Lake.
Location
Shuanghu County, formerly known as Shuanghu Special District, is a county in the northwest of Nagqu City. The county seat is Duoma Township which is 560 kilometers from Nagqu City, 650 kilometers from Lhasa City, and 685 kilometers from Lhasa Airport.
Shuanghu County borders Amdo County to east, Baingoin County and Xainza County to south, Nyima County to west, and acrossing Kekexili bordering Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in north. The average altitude is over 5000 meters with an area of 116,700 square kilometers
Best time to travel
From July-September
Local climate
Plateau sub-frigid arid climate
Most popular sites
Purog Kangri Glacier, about 80 kilometers north of Shanghu count, in Yaqu Township, the average ice thickness is about 150 meters. The area of Purog Kangri Glacier ice source is 422 square kilometers. The surface of the ice source is flat and distributed in strips in the northwest and southeast directions. The ice source radiates more than 50 ice tongues of varying lengths into the surrounding valleys. The lowest point is 5350 meters above sea level and the highest point is 6000 meters above sea level. After drilling and radar measurements, the ice temperature is -10°C. At the bottom of the ice layer, the ice temperature is -5°C to -3°C. The extreme minimum temperature reached -60°C from 2000 to 2001.
Qiangtang Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the northern part of Tibet Autonomous Region, south of Kunlun Mountains and Hoh Xil Mountains, and north of Gangdise Mountains and Nyainqentanglha Mountains. There are herbivorous animals, carnivorous animals, and wild birds in the reserve. There are 161,000 wild animals of nearly 14 species living in the reserve. This is a national natural wildlife reserve
Geography and climate
Shuanghu County is located in the northwestern of Northern Tibet Plateau, and is the core area of national Qiangtang Reserve.
The mountains in its territory are gentle and the grasslands are open. The terrain is high in north and low in south. There are mainly mountain ranges such as Kunlun Mountain, Tanglha Mountain, Kekexili Mountain, and Dongbule Mountain.
There are many lakes, and the most famous ones are Duoge Tso, Renqixiang Tso, Dolsodong Tso, Duogecuorenqiangcuo, Meri Tso. Except for Meri Tso which the lake is 5400 meters above sea level, the other lakes are all over 4500 meters above sea level. There is also the world’s largest land glacier – Purog Kangri
Shuanghu County has a large land and sparsely populated area, and the climate is cold and arid, mainly composed of dry and semi-desert grasslands. Animal husbandry raises yaks, sheep and goats. Local special products include cashmere and scaleless fish in Zaga Tsangbo River.
Annual frost-free period in Shuanghu County is less than 60 days, annual windy days above level 8 are as more as 200 days, frozen soil time exceeds 280 days, and annual average temperature is minus 5 degrees Celsius.
The climate is cold, windy and snowy, annual temperature difference is relatively larger than daily temperature difference, there is no absolute frost-free period, annual gale is 250 days, annual sunshine hours are 2628 hours, and annual precipitation is only 150 mm.
Population and ethnicity
As of 2014, the total population of Shuanghu County was 13,470, among which Tibetans accounted for 99% of total population. Other ethnic groups include Han and Tujia people
Brief History
In history, it was called “no man’s land” because of its inaccessibility. The area under jurisdiction of Shuanghu County originally belonged to Xainza County.
In 1976, Shuanghu Independent Office was established on the basis of part of Xainza County
In 1977, Shuanghu Independent Office (county-level) was officially established, which directly under jurisdiction of Nagqu Administrative Office
Since 1983, the area under jurisdiction of Shuanghu Independent Office was changed to the newly established Nyima County, but Shuanghu Office continued to be directly led by Nagqu Administrative Prefecture
In 1993, Shuanghu Office was renamed Shuanghu Special Administrative Region of Nyima County, but Shuanghu Special Administrative Region continued to be directly led by Nagqu Administrative Prefecture
In 2012, Shuanghu Special Administrative Region was withdrawn and Shuanghu County was established. The county seat is of Duoma Township with an altitude of 4938 meters.
In July , 2013, Shuanghu County was officially established.
In 2017, Nagqu Prefecture was abolished, and Nagqu City was established; Shuanghu County has been under jurisdiction of Nagqu City until now
