Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

“ATQAP” is short for Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, which is located in north-western Sichuan province. It was the most eastern area of Kham

“ATQAP” is at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River (长江) and the Yellow River (黄河), with an area of 84,200 square kilometers. Under its jurisdiction, there are 14 counties, of which includes

The entire prefecture lies in the historic northern Tibetan region of Kham. In addition the obvious Han Chinese and Tibetan influences, it is easy for you to encounter “Qiang” minority as well. The further you get from Chengdu the stronger the minority influences get.

Brief

In Tibetan, “Aba” is also called “Ngawa” so “Aba Tibetan & Qiang Autonomous Prefecture” is also used as “Ngawa Tibetan & Qiang Autonomous Prefecture”. In short , people usually call “Aba” to refer this whole prefecture nowadays, however, it is different from the “Aba County“, which is administrated by “ATQAP”

• In the 8^th century, the great translator “Vai Ro Tsa Na” was exiled to Gyarong region, which is Barkham County currently
• In 1410, Tshakho Ngawang Tsapa, whom was one of the 4 greatest student of Tsongkhapa established the 1^st Gelug monastery in Aba, which was called as “Gyarong”.
• In 1956, it was renamed as “Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture”
• In 1987, it was renamed as “Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture”
• On May 12, 2008, a 8.0 magnitude earthquake earthquake occurred in Wenchuan County which has caused a severe damage
• On 8th August 2017, another 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Jiuzhai gou valley

The 14 counties of ATQAP

–World Natural Heritage of UNESCO–

–Airports in Aba Prefecture–