Tengchen County

Tengchen county (Dengqen or “Ding Qing”) is located on the Northern Tibet-Sichuan “highway”. It is 145 kilometers northwest of Riwoche county, and 270 kilometers southeast of Sok Dzong county, known as “Gyamotang”.

Tengchen County belongs to the East Tibet canyon. There are more than 10 peaks with altitude over 5000 meters above the sea level. The highest elevation is of 6328 meters, the lowest spot is about over 3500 meters, the relative altitude difference is more than 2000 meters

It is Eastern Tibet Plateau Temperate Semi-Humid Monsoon Climate. Its daily temperature difference is big, but the annual temperature difference is small; The average annual sunshine hours is 2,457 hours, its rain-season is from June to September, and rain is in the night mostly;

• The average annual temperature of 3 degrees
• The average temperature of January is -7 degrees
• The average temperature of July is 12 degrees

Tengchen new town is situated in a wide cultivated valley. It faces the old village crossing the river. The inhabitants of this county display a remarkable sense of religious tolerance. The entire region of this county is one well connected with Bon tradition which is thought to be the largest Bon tradition stronghold in addition to the east Tibet of Kham, in which Bon tradition monasteries still remain.

The national Road G-317 crosses through the whole county that connects Lhasa and Xining

The most well-known attractions of Tengchen county is Ritrol Lhakhang (Zi Zhu monastery), which is the largest Bon religion monastery in the entire Tibetan Cultural Area, and also with the largest number of believers and the most complete preserved temple with Bon religion ritual.

–Recommended hotels in Tengchen–

Distance from Tengchen to

• To Qamdo : 250 kilometers, about 5.5 hours drive
• To Nagqu : 490 kilometers, about 11 hours drive
• To Lhasa: 820 kilometers, about 18 hours drive
• To Tsetang : 950 kilometers, about 20 hours drive
• To Damxung : 650 kilometers, about 14.5 hours drive
• To Derge : 590 kilometers, about 13 hours drive