Gar, Ngari
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Shiquanhe (), known in Tibetan as Sênggêkanbab () or Sênggêzangbo, is the main
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
and administrative seat of
Ngari Prefecture Ngari Prefecture () or Ali Prefecture () is a prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region covering Western Tibet, whose traditional name is Ngari Khorsum. Its administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Shiquanhe. History Nga ...
,
Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of ...
, China. Shiquanhe is located on the bank of
Sênggê Zangbo Sengge Zangbo, Sengge Khabab () or Shiquan He () is a river in the Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China that is the source stream of the Indus river, one of the major trans-Himalayan rivers of Central and South Asia. The river ...
, the source stream of the Indus River, close to its confluence with the Gartang River.


Name

This modern Chinese-built town is named after the Sengge Zangbo river, the main headwater of the Indus River, on whose banks it is located. It is called "Sengge Zangbo" or "Sengge Khabab" in Tibetan and "Shiquanhe" in Chinese. Being the headquarters of
Ngari Prefecture Ngari Prefecture () or Ali Prefecture () is a prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region covering Western Tibet, whose traditional name is Ngari Khorsum. Its administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Shiquanhe. History Nga ...
(which is known in Chinese under the Sinicized form of its name, Ali Prefecture), the town is also commonly known in English as Ngari or Ali () Town; this is what many guidebooks use as the primary name for the town. In Tibetan, Ngari is only the name for the prefecture, and not the town. Being the county seat of the
Gar County Gar County (; ), formerly Senge Tsangpo County, is a district ( county) in the Ngari Prefecture of the western Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The main town is Shiquanhe, also called "Gar", on account of being the county seat, and "Ali", on ac ...
, it is also referred to as Gar (). it may be labeled that way on maps.E.g.


Description

When the Ngari Prefecture was established by the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1959, its capital was at Günsa (or Gar Gunsa), at the settlement called Gar Chongsar (སྒར་གྲོང་གསར), which is now the location of the
Ngari Gunsa Airport Ngari Günsa Airport , also known as Shiquanhe Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the town of Shiquanhe in Ngari Prefecture, between Gar Chongsar and Sogmai, Günsa Township, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. It ...
. In 1965, the capital was moved from Günsa to the newly built Shiquanhe town in 1965, due to the extremely difficult living conditions at the former. At that time, Shiquanhe had a population of 400 people. Shiquanhe is a modern Chinese-style town, situated at the confluence of the Sengge River and the Longchu River. According to a government-affiliated source, the population of Shiquanhe had grown from just over 1,500 to over 20,000 in 30 years (1978–2008), and people there now "enjoy their life because the city has been equipped with culture and commerce facilities". Western guidebook writers have referred to the place as a "concrete monstrosity of a town". Shiquanhe has a lion statue in the middle of the town. It has high-rise buildings, restaurants, general stores and nightclubs. There are several primary schools and a secondary school. It also has two banks, one of which, the
Agricultural Bank of China Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), also known as AgBank, is one of the " Big Four" banks in China. It was founded on 10 July 1951, and has its headquarters in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It has branches throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, ...
, near the army post west of the roundabout, has foreign exchange facilities. There is also a post and telecom office.


History

Even though Shiquanhe is a modern town, its location has been of significant importance in history. Not only is it situated in a wide valley of Sengge Zangbo with an abundance of cultivable land, it also lies along a trade route between Gar Gunsa and Rudok, which continues on to
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...
in the west via the
Pangong Lake Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (; ; hi, text=पैंगोंग झील) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso'', ''Tso N ...
, and, in the other direction, to
Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...
via the Mayum La pass. The region was historically known as Rala (). (See Strachey's map.) During the Tibetan
Era of Fragmentation The Era of Fragmentation (; ) was an era of disunity in Tibetan history lasting from the death of the Tibetan Empire's last emperor, Langdarma, in 842 until Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became the Imperial Preceptor of the three provinces of Tibe ...
in the 10th century, Kyide Nyimagon, a descendant of emperor
Langdarma Darma Udumtsen (), better known by his nickname Langdarma (, "Mature Bull" or "Dharma the Bull") was most likely the last Tibetan Emperor who most likely reigned from 838 to 841 CE. Early sources call him Tri Darma "King Dharma". His domain e ...
, came to Ngari in the midst of chaos in Central Tibet and started a new kingdom in Rala. He is said to have started by building a ''Kharmar'' (reddish fort) in the region, also called ''Ralajong''. Later he expanded into the
Sutlej Valley The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...
and Burang by marrying a princess of Burang. This kingdom came to be known as Guge-Purang. By the 17th century, Ladakh annexed the entire kingdom of Guge and invited retaliation from Central Tibet under the
5th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader ...
. The large of army of Galdan Chhewang, Tibet's general, encamped in the Gar Valley. The first clash with the Ladakhi forces took place near the confluence of the Gartang and Sengge Zangbo, with the locations Langmar and Rala mentioned in the sources. The Ladakhis were defeated and Galdan Chhewang pursued them to Ladakh, leading to the
Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War The Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War of 1679–1684 was fought between the Central Tibetan Ganden Phodrang government, with the assistance of Mongol khanates, and the Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh with assistance from the Mughal Empire in Kashmir. Back ...
and the
Treaty of Tingmosgang The ''Ladakh Chronicles'', or ''La-dvags-rgyal-rabs'' (), is a historical work that covers the history of Ladakh from the beginnings of the first Tibetan dynasty of Ladakh until the end of the Namgyal dynasty. The chronicles were compiled by the ...
.


Transportation

Ngari Gunsa Airport Ngari Günsa Airport , also known as Shiquanhe Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the town of Shiquanhe in Ngari Prefecture, between Gar Chongsar and Sogmai, Günsa Township, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. It ...
, near the town of Shiquanhe, started operations on 1 July 2010, becoming the fourth civil airport in Tibet. Air China's southwestern branch will operate flight services from
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...
to
Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...
and on to Ngari – a total of – every Tuesday and Friday. "The flight leaves Chengdu at 5:50 AM and arrives at Lhasa two hours later," Bao Lida, a company press official was quoted as saying. "It leaves Lhasa at 8:40 AM and arrives at Ngari at 10:20 AM." the Lhasa-Ngari flight service would start from 2,590 yuan (About US $400). The report said Air China expects to transport 50-60 passengers in winter and 20-30 passengers in summer during each flight service.


Climate

Shiquanhe has a cold
desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
: ''BWk'') with short, very mild summers and very cold, dry winters.


Ngari Observatory

China, Japan, and South Korea are currently in talks to construct a large high-altitude observatory on a ridge south of Shiquanhe, which was selected after a series of site surveys through Tibet and western China for candidate sites. Atmospheric conditions from the site's elevation above sea level have been roughly characterized, initial facilities (including two small domes) have been built, and a 25 cm pathfinder telescope project is in place as of 2012, with 50 and 60 cm telescopes planned for 2013 and 2014 and a 3 m telescope in the indefinite future: but the ambitions for the site include the possibilities of megaprojects like a 30 m-class competitor to E-ELT and a 10–20 m class spectrometer as a sequel to LAMOST. Also planned for the site is the Ali CMB Polarization Telescope (AliCPT) for studying the polarization of the
cosmic microwave background In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...
(CMB). This location is, during winter, as high and dry (and thus good for observations as) the South Pole location of the similar
BICEP and Keck Array BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) and the Keck Array are a series of cosmic microwave background (CMB) List of cosmic microwave background experiments, experiments. They aim to measure the Polarization in astronomy, p ...
telescopes, with the tremendous logistical advantage of being 30 minutes' drive from the airport and city. Construction has begun on the telescope, codenamed Ngari No.1, and it is expected to enter operations in 2023. It is subsequently officially named AliCPT-1. AliCPT-1 will be deployed in the middle latitude of the Northern Hemisphere, on the site of Ngari(Ali) Prefecture of Tibet, on a high peak of the Gangdise mountain, 32°18'38"N, 80°01'50"E at above sea level (B1 site), Fig. 7. The B1 site is located 20 km away from the
Ngari Gunsa Airport Ngari Günsa Airport , also known as Shiquanhe Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the town of Shiquanhe in Ngari Prefecture, between Gar Chongsar and Sogmai, Günsa Township, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. It ...
, with convenient transportation. The closest city, Shiquanhe located at above sea level, is only 30 km away from the B1 site. After several years of construction, the B1 site provides excellent conditions for carrying out CMB experiments. Infrastructure construction is complete, such as road construction, and has been connected to the city electricity power supply. AliCPT-1 will be operated from a new observatory building built by the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), 850 m² including the operation hall and additional rooms. The site is equipped with three weather stations monitoring pressure, wind speed and direction, and temperature. Grid power, already ready for operation, is the main power source on site; solar panels, a diesel power generator, and a UPS power backup system are also in place. The site is also equipped with high-speed wired data service, full environmental heater/air conditioner units, and all the facilities needed to assemble and operate the receiver, including a crane and a workshop in a high-bay room. For human safety, an on-site oxygen system is present.


Notes


References


External links


Wikimapia
* {{Authority control Populated places in Ngari Prefecture Township-level divisions of Tibet