Nyingchi

　　 Nyingchi, "throne of the sun" in Tibetan, is located in southeast Tibet, where the Himalaya Mountains and Nyainqentanglha Mountains extend from west to east, like parallel huge dragons, to join the Hengduan Mountains in the east. It is adjacent to Yunan and Qamdo to the east and northeast, Naqu to the north, Lhasa to the west and Shannan to the southwest. It is a neighbor to India and Myanmar to the south with a border as long as 1,006.5 km. Nyingchi area, with a total area of 117,000 square km and a population of more than 140,000, has 7 counties under its jurisdiction: Nyingchi, Mainling, Gongbo'gyamda, Medog, Bome, Zaya and Nang.

Nyingchi's hydropower resources account for more than 70 percent of the Tibetan Autonomous Region

　　The average height of the Nyingchi area is 3,100 meters above sea level. The mountains all run east to west _ the north being higher than the south, leaving a great disparity in height. The Yarlung Zangbo River, with the highest altitude in the world, enters the Nyingchi area in Nang after surging 1,000 km, and is blocked directly by the Himalayas in Mainling, which forces it northward. The river then makes a peculiar U turn around Namjagbarwa Peak and rushes down in Medog before joining the Indian Ocean through India. Its high northern and low southern topographies open a gap in the lowlands facing the Indian Ocean in the southeast, where the warm Indian current moves upstream to meet the cold air from the north, allowing the co-existence of tropical, sub-tropical, temperate and frigid zones _ hence, the peculiar landscape of snow mountains and forests.
　　Namjagbarwa Peak, the highest in the Nyingchi area and the 15th highest in the world, is 7,780 meters above sea level. The true features of its triangular body are obscured by snow year round and by clouds and fog. West of Namjagbarwa Peak is a steep cliff that reaches the bottom of the valley, and in its northwest stand a series of peaks of more than 7,000 meters above sea level, which join one another like sawteeth capped with thick ice-snow. Three huge valley glaciers have evolved between Namjagbarwa Peak and Naipeng Peak to its south and reach down to the green and immense forest. The La'gyabelei Peak to the north of Namjagbarwa Peak on the other side of Yarlung Zangbo River, a saddle-shaped, double-peaked mountain of 7,234 meters, is also enveloped by clouds and fog all year long. All these mountains and others, such as Seche La Mountain, form the wonderful landscape in the east part of Nyingchi area.
　　In addition to the mountains, the Nyingchi area also boasts Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, the greatest canyon in the world. While running west, the Yarlung Zangbo River cuts across the Himalayas and thunderously rolls through Namjagbarwa Peak and La'gyabelei Peak. The average depth of the canyon is 5,000 meters, with the lowest point being 5,382 meters. The canyon is 490 km long, and the section from Pai Daduka to Bambo in Medog, 240 km long, is the most precipitous, with a steeper lower part. With a speed as high as 16 meters per second and a volume flow of 4,425 cubic meters per second, the river sweeps over huge stones and thunders forward. In the valley, there are permanent ice-snow, hot springs, streams and waterfalls. Virgin forests that are rich in natural resources spread from the bottom of the valley to the top of the mountain.
　　The Nyingchi area owes its unique climate and natural environment to its peculiar topography. Different from other places of Tibet, Nyingchi possesses rich soil and resources because of the warm, damp climate with an annual rainfall of 650 mm, a yearly sunlight exposure of 2,022.2 hours and a frost-free season of 180 days. Though surrounded by snow mountains, Nyingchi is a verdant world, with the forest coverage being 46.1 percent. As the third largest forest zone in China, Nyingchi boasts 2.64 million hectares of forests, or 80 percent of the total forest in Tibet. The vast forest includes rich forest resources, forest products, rare animals and rare plants. Nearly all kinds of plants growing from Hainan Island to the North Pole can be found in the Nyingchi area. Altogether, 3,500 kinds of plants have been found and fortified there. Medog National Animal and Plant Reserve Area, Ciba Rare Animal and Plant Reserve Area of Zaya ,GangXiang Village Conifer Reserve in Bome, and Bagyai Ancient Cypress Reserve Area of Nyingchi reflect the basic features of Nyingchi's forest resources.
　　Nyingchi's distinct, natural landscape consists of snow mountains that stand majestically in the sun and glisten under the blue sky, valleys surrounded by undulating mountains, and luxuriant forests that contain green sky-reaching pines and cypresses; the fragrance of canola flowers at the foot of the mountains attracts butterflies. This all creates a perfect landscape painting on which "four seasons coexist in one mountain and scenery differs every 10 li." Nyingchi is just like a "Green Pearl" resting in the southeast of the Tibet Plateau.

　　Though a small administrative area, Nyingchi is highly rich in three major resources _ namely, forestry, hydraulics and tourism. These three resources have enabled Nyingchi's economy to skyrocket since the 1980s.
　　According to the Ministry of Forestry's air survey, the forest coverage of Nyingchi is 46.1 percent. Nyingchi's forest has a large variety of trees and is expansive. The wood reserves is estimated to be 882 million m3 and the yearly yield of lumber has been maintained at 180,000 m3 for many years. To effectively use the forest resources, the Nyingchi Administrative Office has made great strides in science and technology, transforming operations and improving the economy, in addition to ensuring the production, sales, management and protection of the forest. The forest industry has turned from producing lumber to finely processed products, representing a transition from extensive operations to an intensive operation, and from a command economy to a market economy. Factories producing plywood, flooring, and wood products corporations have been established in Gongbo'gyamda, Nyingchi, Mainling and Bome. Gengzhang Wood Products Factory and Gangga Wood Products Factory have merged into Sengong Enterprise Group, Ltd. and have developed a specialized industry system on a large scale.
　　Fungi and economic plants are also a part of the wood resources. More than 120 edible fungi grow in the forest of Nyingchi, including the hedgehog fungus, morel and pine mushroom which also serves as a medicine. The yearly yield of pine mushrooms can reach over 300 tons. Nyingchi's forest also possesses a considerable variety of herbs in large quantities, such as Chinese caterpillar fungus, hongjingtian,a highland ginseng, rhizoma gastrodiae, pseudo-ginseng, and dangshen, as well as economic trees, such as apple tree, tea, tung tree, chestnut, pepper tree and oranges. Among these, the annual apple yield is 3 million kg, and tea 15,000 kg.
　　The forest is described as a "green bank" or "treasury with no lock." In the past more than a dozen years since the introduction of the reform and opening-up policy, the shy Nyingchi people have freed themselves from relying on just the land and have become more involved in their own economy by engaging in business and sideline production, developing township enterprises and tapping the potential of the forest and mountains. Before 1987, a large quantity of pine mushrooms were left to rot, because it was taken to be an ordinary vegetable at a price of 0.25 yuan RMB per kg. And, after 1987, the local people benefited greatly from the export of pine mushrooms to Japan at more than 100 tons annually. The local people also receive 1 million yuan RMB every year from the county government as resource compensation. Such activity is only a simple exchange between nature and humans, and the Nyingchi people have increased the pace of development of the mountains and forest by setting up the local Foreign Economic and Trade Bureau and the Foreign Trade Corporation to develop local key products for export.

Namjagbarwa Peak with snow

　　Nyingchi's waterpower resources account for 70 percent of Tibet's total, one of the rich-waterpower regions in China. The hydropower station at the U-turn of the Yarlung Zangbo River with an installed capacity of 60,000 MW, three times as much as the Three Gorges Project, has been listed by the United Nations as being one of the 10 super projects in the 21st century. According to the survey of the Water Conservancy Department of Tibet, more than a dozen places are suitable for establishing power plants of more than 300 MW, and about 100 places are suitable for power plants of less than 300 MW. Large number of snow mountains, great drop and a short dry season add to the advantages of establishing reservoirs. Fully utilizing these conditions to develop hydropower in the villages, upgrading the present power stations and ensuring the high quality of the Ba River 20MW Power Station will be critically helpful to the energy supply for the economic development of Nyingchi.
　　The beautiful natural sights are a boon for Nyingchi's developing tourism, which is now a new economic growth point of the region. Tourist facilities such as Nyingchi Hotel, Regional Guest House and Conggo Lake Resort Village have been established in Bayi Town and other points of interest. The natural beauty and human resources will be further exploited in Lunam Virgin Forest, the U-turn of Yarlung Zangbo River, Namjagbarwa Peak, and Lieshan Ancient Graves in Nang. The Yarlung Zangbo River Tourist Festival is being planned, furthering the local tertiary industry by promoting the development of tourism.