Yadong County (), also known by its Tibetan name Dromo/Tromo County () is a frontier county and trade-market of the

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, Taman ...

region of China, part of its

Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histor ...

Prefecture. Yadong County is coextensive with the

Chumbi valley The Chumbi Valley, called Dromo or Tromo in Tibetan, is a valley in the Himalayas that projects southwards from the Tibetan plateau, intervening between Sikkim and Bhutan. It is coextensive with the administrative unit Yadong County in the T ...

that extends south into the Himalayas between

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. It shares boundaries with both India and Bhutan. It covers about 4,306 square kilometers with a population of 10,000. Its headquarters is

Yatung Yatung or Yadong, also known as Shasima (, ), is the principal town in the Chumbi Valley or Yadong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is also its administrative headquarters. Name The village is known locally as Shasima (''Shar ...

(also called Shasima).

Geography

The Yadong County mainly consists of the

Chumbi Valley The Chumbi Valley, called Dromo or Tromo in Tibetan, is a valley in the Himalayas that projects southwards from the Tibetan plateau, intervening between Sikkim and Bhutan. It is coextensive with the administrative unit Yadong County in the T ...

, called Dromo/Tromo in Tibetan. The valley is bordered by

Dongkya Range Dongkya or Dongkhya range, is a mountain range in the lower Himalayas that forms the eastern border of Sikkim, currently a state of India. Its northern tip extends to Dongkha La, and as it moves southwards, sometimes referred to as the Chola ra ...

in the west and Massong-Chungdung range in the east. (See map.) Two rivers Khambu Machu and Tromo Chu arise within the valley and join together at the town of Yatung. The joint river is known in English by its Bhutanese name Amo Chu. (Tibetans continue to call it Khambu Machu.) The town of

(also called Shasima), is the headquarers of the county. It is close to the borders of both the Indian state of

and also

. In 1986, it was reported to have had a hotel, a guest house, some government offices and army barracks. Yadong is connected to the Indian state of

via the

Nathu La Nathu La (, ) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal in Bengal, South Asia. The pass, at , connects the towns of Kalimpong and Gangtok to ...

pass. Local specialities include Dromo fish and barley wine while the main tourist sites are Donggar Monastery, Kagyu Monastery and Khangbu Hotspring. As part of the

China Western Development China Western Development (), also Great Western Development Strategy or the Open Up the West Program, is a policy adopted for the Western China. The policy covers 6 provinces ( Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan), 5 au ...

strategy, the Chinese government planned to extend the Qinghai–Tibet Railway from

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 ...

to Yatung.

History

According to the

Convention of Calcutta The Convention of Calcutta or Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1890, officially the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet, () was a treaty between Britain and Qing China relating to Tibet and the Kingdom of Sikkim. It w ...

of 1890–94 signed by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

Qing dynasty China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...

, the market at

Old Yatung Old Yatung (), originally just "Yatung", with a native Tibetan spelling of Nyatong: "Miss nnie R.Taylor returned with the object of converting the Tibetan people, and now lives at the town of Nyatong, which by some is called Yatung." or Myatong, ...

was opened to India in the valley coming down from the

Jelep La Jelep La (; ) elevation , is a high mountain pass between Sikkim, India and Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is on a route that connects Lhasa to India. The pass is about south of Nathu La and is slightly higher. It was frequently used for t ...

pass. At that time there was a wall-like structure across the valley's stream extending part way up each side of the valley thus blocking the road to the interior of the county. This was a demarcation line that the British subjects were forbidden to cross. It was manned by 20 Tibetan soldiers under a sergeant along with three Chinese officials. The construction of the wall was reported to be one of the reasons that led to the

British expedition to Tibet The British expedition to Tibet, also known as the Younghusband expedition, began in December 1903 and lasted until September 1904. The expedition was effectively a temporary invasion by British Indian Armed Forces under the auspices of the T ...

in 1904. According to the resulting

Convention of Lhasa The Convention of Lhasa, officially the Convention Between Great Britain and Thibet, was a treaty signed in 1904 between Tibet and Great Britain, in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. It was signed following the British expedition to Tibet of 1903–1 ...

, a British trade-agent was to be stationed at "Yatung". The British picked the location of the present Yatung town for the trade agency. (Two more trade agencies were also located at

Gyantse Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse; ; ), is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region ( ...

and

Gartok Gartok (), is made of twin encampment settlements of Gar Günsa and Gar Yarsa (, Wade–Giles: ''Ka-erh-ya-sha'') in the Gar County in the Ngari Prefecture of Tibet. Gar Gunsa served as the winter encampment and Gar Yarsa as the summer encampment ...

as part of the same Convention).

Administrative divisions

Yadong County administers the following two

towns 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 five

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

: *

or Shasima (; ) *

Phari Phari or Pagri (; ) is a town in Yadong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China near the border with Bhutan. The border can be accessed through a secret road/trail connecting Tsento Gewog in Bhutan () known as Tremo La. the town had a popula ...

(; ) * (; ) * (; ) * (; ) * or "upper Yadong" Township (; ) based at Rubingang * Xiayadong or "lower Yadong" Township (; ) based at

Rinchengang Rinchengang : "By order of Military Control Commission freedom of movement is not being permitted to our Trade Agents even in the vicinity where the Trade Agencies are located. For example the I.T.A. Yatung was not permitted to go to Rinchengang, ...

References

External links

Yadong County Annals
{{Towns in Xigazê Counties of Tibet Shigatse

Geography

History

Administrative divisions

See also

References

External links