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5. Qamdo Region - Where three rivers run alongside on the land of treasures

Lying in eastern Tibet, Qamdo Region neighbours Yunnan and Sichuan provinces on the east, Qinghai Province on the north, Nyingchi area on the south, and Nagqu on the west. The region includes 11 counties: Qamdo, Mangkang, Zogang, Konjo, Banbar, Baxoi, Lhorong, Jomda, Rewoqe, Dengg6n and Chagyab. Covering 130,000 square kilometres, the region is home to 586,100 people (by the year 2000). Apart from the majority of Tibetans, there are also the Han, Mongolian, Naxi, Hui and other nationalities. In the Tibetan language, "Qamdo" means "Mouth of two rivers." The regional administration office is located at the Qamdo Town.

Located in the eastern part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and northern part of the Hengduan Mountains, Qamdo Region tilts southward, with an average elevation of 3,700 metres. The three rivers Jinsha, Lancang and Nujiang form the natural wonder of running side by side in this area. Cutting across the gorgeous mountains, the greatest drop from the mountain top to the valley bottom can reach 2,700 metres. Over 80 mountains that are taller than 5,000 metres gather in this region. Many of the mountains are renowned sacred ones. Some mountains are already open for mountain climbers. At the foot of the mountains, the valleys are covered with 21,730 square kilometres of forests, 467 square kilometres of fertile fields and 66,670 square kilometres of natural pasture. Blue lakes and hot springs scatter on this region, which is home to over 600 species of wild animals like the snow leopard, lesser panda, black snub-nosed monkey, Thorold's deer, musk deer, marten, otter and lynx. There are also over 1,200 species of medical herbs like the Chinese caterpillar fungus, musk, pilose antler, rhizoma anemarrhenae, the bulb of fritillary, bear gall and dangshen (Codonopsis pilosula).

In the traditional concept of the Tibetan people, Qamdo belongs to the Khams region. The people of this region are called "Khams-pa." The folk culture of Qamdo is quite different from that of many other places in Tibet.

There are many famous travel spots in Qamdo. At Qamdo County, there are the Qambaling Temple (Qamdo Temple), the Karub Neolithic Age Cultural Ruins, Garma Temple, Gupu Karst Cave, Wonmaika and Zogyika hot springs. In the Mangkang County, there are the Quzeka Hot Spring and Momco Lake. The Baxoi County has the breath-takingly beautiful Ra'og Lake, Rinco Lake, Ra'og and Xali hot springs, Tongka Temple, and Garxog frescoes. Across the Zogang County and the Yunnan Province lie the Mele Snow Mountains Scenic Region together with the Maiyu Hot Spring. At the Palbar County, there are the Palbar Monastery, Dedeng Monastery, Dainda Mountain God Temple, and the three lakes of Poyu. The Rewoqe County is gifted with the Yiri Hot Spring, the Macha La Karst Cave, the Red Deer Farm at Changmoling, and the Rewoqe Temple. In the Chagyab County, there are the Rindagdamma Buddhist sculptures, Lunglung Stone carving group, Xangkang Hall, Sagarricho and Jukai Monastery. The Denggen County has the Zezhu Monastery, Burtuoka Lake and Tocun Hot Spring. Lhorong County has a group of small lakes which the local people compare to 21 fairies. The Jomda County has the Qu'nyido Hot Spring. Although many scenic sites are now open to tourists, the limits of transportation still keeps tourists from reaching them easily. These tourism resources hold great potential for Qamdo. They will quickly become economic advantage once developed appropriately.

Qamdo Town

Qamdo is where the Qamdo Region's administration office and the Qamdo County government are located. At an elevation of 3,240 metres, Qamdo (which means "where two rivers converge") gained this name as Za Qu and Ngom Qu, both are tributaries of the Lancang River, converge at the town.
Qamdo is built in the small patches of flatlands among the mountains. The two rivers divide the town into three parts, which are connected by bridges. It's a grand view as layers of buildings perch higher along the I slopes. On the town of 4.5 square kilometres live nearly 10,000 people. With relatively comprehensive public facilities, the town also has many industries. Throughout history, Qamdo has been a pivot of transportation as it sits on the way from Sichuan to enter eastern Tibet. Since the 1950s, the construction of the SichuanTibet, Yunnan-Tibet, Qing-Kang (part of the 214 State Road) and Hei-Chang (Nagqu-Qamdo) highways has fundamentally changed the poor transportation. From Qamdo, travellers can reach Lhasa to the west, Chengdu to the east, Yunnan to the south and Qinghai to the north. All the counties of Qamdo Region are now connected with roads. As the Bangda Airport is completed and put into use, the distance between Qamdo and Lhasa as well as central China is greatly shortened.

There are many places of interest in Qamdo. But the beautiful scenery of the region remains unexplored due to the difficulties in transportation. The tourism agencies are working on establishing travel facilities to better develop tourism.
The most important sites for tourists in Qamdo are the Qambaling Monastery and the Karub Cultural Ruins.

The Foreign Affairs and Public Security telephone number of Qamdo Region is 4821273, the long-distance code is 0895.

6. Nagqu Region - The place closest to the sun