Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Life

    Discovering 'Xizang's little Switzerland'

    Nyingchi's topography sculpts its unique natural and cultural appeal, Erik Nilsson reports.

    By ERIK NILSSON | China Daily | Updated: 2025-05-10 00:00
    Share
    Share - WeChat

    Nyingchi's alpines conjure an enchanting terrain that shapes its distinctive cultural landscape. The region is celebrated as "Xizang's little Switzerland".

    Indeed, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were gazing upon the European nation's Alps, except the landscape is speckled with yaks, draped with prayer flags and studded with buildings constructed in ethnic Tibetan, Lhoba and Monba vernaculars.

    The Yarlung Zangbo River, the world's highest waterway at around 4,800 meters, slices through the surrounding highlands to carve one of our planet's longest and deepest canyons.

    Nyingchi's relatively clement weather compared with most of the Xizang autonomous region, which is otherwise hailed as the "planet's third pole", and its moderate altitude of around 3,000 meters, forge an eave of "the roof of the world".

    These conditions have nurtured peculiar coniferous and pastural biomes that host a unique taxonomy of wildlife, including myriad rare species.

    The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon zigzags over 500 kilometers southward from Daduka village in Manling county to Baxika village in Metog county, slicing about 2,300 meters deep on average and over 6,000 meters at its most extreme plunge.

    Many travelers flock to the Water Terrace scenic area by the Negega Bridge in Manling's Paizhen town to experience the river's thunderous rapids while quietly sipping tea.

    Much of yawning chasm is encrusted by glaciers, lacerated by torrential rivers and traced by jutting precipices that frequently shake off their stony hides, detonating avalanches of rock, slush and muck.

    Swathes of the ravine are so treacherous that sections of it linger among Earth's last unexplored locales. But this unknown is exactly what lures researchers eager to unlock this geological treasure trove's final mysteries.

    Nyingchi's highest summit, Mount Namjagbarwa, soars 7,782 meters into a lingering shroud of mist where the Hengduan, Himalaya and Nyainqentanglha mountain ranges smash into each other.

    One of the best places to view this fang-shaped behemoth is the Forest Viewing Platform. It overlooks meadows glittered with wildflowers, woodlands prickled with evergreens and crests crowned by snowcaps above Lunang Forest.

    Over 1,000 yaks and horses graze in Lunang's 130-hectare pastureland, which hosts a crisp vertical demarcation among its vegetations. Broadleaf species like birch, poplar, rhododendron, willow and alpine oak cling to the lower altitudes, while evergreens like sequoias, cypresses, spruces and firs bristle across the horizons of higher elevations.

    The prairies serve as arenas for traditional festivals featuring horseback archery and strongman contests, especially in August and September.

    Visitors to Nyingchi can also explore folk customs at the Experience Hall of Ethnic Cultural Heritage. They can learn about the legacies of such traditional arts as thangka paintings, lanterns and pest-resistant paper that can last well over a century with minimal aging. They can also witness the production of local incense crafted from over 30 medicinal ingredients harvested from the plateau. The joss smoke is believed to alleviate anxiety, deepen sleep and repel bugs.

    Nyingchi is a place where an extreme river and canyon shape life among relatively moderate elevations and weather in Xizang to generate a destination unlike anywhere else on Earth. These natural conditions have fostered a mystique that has, in turn, shaped its culture.

    From the highest point of Mount Namjagbarwa to the lowest depth of Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, it's worth exploring from top to bottom — and everywhere in between.

     

    Nyingchi's pine-fleeced snowcaps are said to resemble the Swiss Alps. ERIK NILSSON/CHINA DAILY

     

     

    Tashigang village residents greet guests with silk scarves known as khata. ERIK NILSSON/CHINA DAILY

     

     

    Special paper handcrafted in the Xizang autonomous region repels pests and resists aging. It can easily last for over a century or even several. ERIK NILSSON/CHINA DAILY

     

     

    Nyingchi's skylines are diced by mountain ranges and adorned with fluttering prayer flags. ERIK NILSSON/CHINA DAILY

     

     

    Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon weaves for 500 kilometers across the region. It's one of the Earth's longest and deepest canyons, plunging 6,000 meters at its most extreme drop. ERIK NILSSON/CHINA DAILY

     

     

    Today's Top News

    Editor's picks

    Most Viewed

    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    精品中文高清欧美| 亚洲AV无码精品色午夜在线观看| 最新国产精品无码| 一本一道AV无码中文字幕| 无码国产精品一区二区免费3p| 乱人伦中文字幕在线看| 无码国产成人午夜电影在线观看| 无码人妻精品一区二区在线视频| 无码夫の前で人妻を侵犯| 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦| 无码少妇一区二区性色AV| 中文字幕一区二区三区在线不卡| 久热中文字幕无码视频| 亚洲äv永久无码精品天堂久久 | 国产乱子伦精品无码码专区 | 无码不卡av东京热毛片| 天堂资源中文最新版在线一区| 国产精品无码一区二区在线| 无码人妻熟妇AV又粗又大| 最近最新中文字幕视频| 国产精品亚洲w码日韩中文| 中文字幕 亚洲 有码 在线| 久久精品无码专区免费| 国产白丝无码免费视频| 无码国产精品一区二区免费16| 亚洲成AV人在线播放无码| 中文人妻无码一区二区三区| 日韩AV无码一区二区三区不卡毛片| 日本乱中文字幕系列| 国产日韩精品中文字无码| 中文字幕丰满伦子无码| 日韩亚洲变态另类中文| 国色天香中文字幕在线视频| 亚洲精品人成无码中文毛片| 亚洲av无码成人精品区| 天天爽亚洲中文字幕| 无码中文av有码中文a| 中文字幕日韩一区| 亚洲日本中文字幕天堂网| 台湾无码AV一区二区三区| 亚洲中文字幕无码爆乳AV|