Shuanghu County means “Two lakes” in Tibetan, it is named after it is located by Kangru Lake and Rejo Lake.
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 the east, Baingoin County and Xainza County to the south, Nyima County to the west, and acrossing Kekexili bordering Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the 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 part of the Northern Tibet Plateau, and is the core area of the national Qiangtang Reserve. The mountains in its territory are gentle and the grasslands are open. The terrain is high in the north and low in the 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 the Zaga Tsangbo River.
The annual frost-free period in Shuanghu County is less than 60 days, the annual windy days above level 8 are as more as 200 days, the frozen soil time exceeds 280 days, and the annual average temperature is minus 5 degrees Celsius. The climate is cold, windy and snowy, the annual temperature difference is relatively larger than the daily temperature difference, there is no absolute frost-free period, the annual gale is 250 days, the annual sunshine hours are 2628 hours, and the annual precipitation is only 150 mm.
Population and ethnicity
As of 2014, the total population of Shuanghu County was 13,470, among which the Tibetans accounted for 99% of the 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 the 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 unit) was officially established, which directly under the jurisdiction of Nagqu Administrative Office
Since 1983, the area under the jurisdiction of the Shuanghu Independent Office was changed to the newly established Nyima County, but the Shuanghu Office continued to be directly led by the Nagqu Administrative Prefecture
In 1993, Shuanghu Office was renamed the Shuanghu Special Administrative Region of Nyima County, but Shuanghu Special Administrative Region continued to be directly led by the Nagqu Administrative Prefecture
In 2012, Shuanghu Special Administrative Region was withdrawn and the Shuanghu County was established. The county seat is of Duoma Township with an altitude of 4938 meters.
On July 26, 2013, Shuanghu County was officially established.
In 2017, Nagqu Prefecture was abolished, and Nagqu City was established; Shuanghu County is under the jurisdiction of Nagqu City until now
