Riyue Mountain (), known in Tibetan as Nyima Dawa La, is actually a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

situated in

Huangyuan County Huangyuan County () is a county of Qinghai Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xining, the capital of Qinghai. It is under the administration of Xining city. The county seat is Chengguan Town, known in ...

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and wa ...

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

Province,

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 ...

. The mountain pass is above sea level and separates the

Qinghai Lake Qinghai Lake or Ch'inghai Lake, also known by other names, is the largest lake in China. Located in an endorheic basin in Qinghai Province, to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an alkaline salt lake. The lake has fluctuat ...

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

from the

Huangshui River The Huangshui River or Huang Shui is a river in Qinghai and Gansu, China. The river is a left tributary of the Yellow River and its total length is with a basin area of . Etymology The Huangshui River () is also referred to simply as Huang Riv ...

basin, a tributary of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

. The Daotang River () flows west from the pass into Qinghai Lake. The pass separates Qinghai Province into a pastoral zone in the west and an agricultural zone in the east. The mountain pass is currently crossed by

China National Highway 214 China National Highway 214 (G214) runs from Xining, Qinghai to Jinghong, Yunnan. It is 3,256 kilometres in length and runs south from Xining towards Tibet, and ends in Yunnan Province. Route and distance See also * China National Highways ...

that follows the ancient trade route into

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

.Dorje (1999), pp. 535-536.

Legend

The Nyima Dawa La (pass) was made famous due to its association with the Han-Chinese

Princess Wencheng Princess Wencheng (; ) was a member of a minor branch of the royal clan of the Tang Dynasty who married King Songtsen Gampo of the Tibetan Empire in 641. She is also known by the name Gyasa or "Chinese wife" in Tibet. Some Tibetan historians cons ...

when she was en route to marry Tibetan King

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepal ...

in the 7th century. She is said to have looked in a magic mirror here with a sun-moon design which was supposed to show her family in

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

. She only saw her own reflection and she smashed the mirror in despair. The Daotang River which, unusually in this region, flows east to west is said to have originated from the tears of the princess. Every year about the 6th day of the 6th lunar month a Flower Song Festival (Ch. ''Huarhui'') is held here. Two small new concrete temples have been built on the pass with modern murals showing the royal couple and scenes of nomadic life.Dorje (1999), p. 536.

Tongkor Monastery

Tongkor Monastery is a monastery, now mostly in ruins, that was located northeast of Riyue Mountain pass.

Footnotes

References

*Dorje, Gyurme. (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan''. (2nd Ed.) Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. . Mountains of Qinghai Xining {{PRChina-geo-stub