Tsetang () or Zedang (), is the fourth largest city in Tibet and is located in the Yarlung Valley, southeast of

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

in Nedong District of the Shannan Prefecture in the

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

region of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is the capital of Shannan Prefecture (which is also referred to as "Shannan City"). Tsetang has been the capital of the Yarlung region since antiquity and was the seat of the ancient emperors of Tibet and, as such, a place of great importance. In the 19th century, it is said to have comprised some 1,000 houses, a bazaar, a gompa and a fort. As the capital of Shannan, it is the second-largest settlement in the historical

Ü-Tsang Ü-Tsang (དབུས་གཙང་། Wylie; dbus gtsang) is one of the three Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo to the northeast and Kham to the east. Geographically Ü-Tsang covers the Yarlung Tsanpo drainage basin, the western dist ...

region. It lies at an elevation of above sea level and has a population of approximately 52,000 persons. It is only about to the northeast of the town of Nedong and they have now essentially merged into one city. Tsetang is situated near the flank of

Mount Gongbori Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

() where many ancient ruins (such as ruins of Gajiu Monastery) are located. It is known as the cradle of Tibetan's civilization. ''

Samye Samye Monastery (, ), full name Samye Migyur Lhundrub Tsula Khang (Wylie: ''Bsam yas mi ’gyur lhun grub gtsug lag khang'') and Shrine of Unchanging Spontaneous Presence, is the first Tibetan Buddhist and Nyingma monastery built in Tibet, during ...

'', Tibet's first monastery, is located only from Tsetang and was founded in 779 CE by King Trisong Detsen. The 14th century monastery of Tsetang, Ganden Chökhorling, was originally Kagyupa but was taken over by the Gelugpas in the 18th century. It was destroyed during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

in the 1960s but has been restored since. Ngamchö is also a Gelugpa monastery and contains the bed and throne of the Dalai Lama and has a chapel devoted to medicine. The Samten Ling and Drebuling monasteries of the Sakyas still remained in 1959 but have since been destroyed and mostly built over. There is, however, the reconstructed Gelugpa Sang-ngag Zimche Nunnery, in the ruins of Samten Ling with a 1000-armed statue of Chenresig (Avalokiteshvara) said to have been made by Emperor

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (Classical , pronounced ) (; (601–683 CE, reign 614-648) was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tib ...

(605 or 617? - 649 CE). The town supposedly dates back to the founding of the Tsetang Gompa in 1351 which became an important centre of learning. One of three caves in the mountainside to the east of the town is said to be the birthplace of the Tibetan people who resulted from the mating of a monkey and a beautiful cannibal ogress. About south of Tsetang is Changzhug Monastery founded during the reign of

and about further is

Yumbulagang Yumbulagang (; ) or Yumbu Lakhar (, is the original palace of the Yarlung Dynasty kings of Tibet. As the first building in Tibet, it was the palace of the first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsenpo who reigned during 127 BCE.Claude Arpi, ''Glimpses on the ...

which, according to legend, was built as a palace for the first king, Nyatri Tsenpo, and was the first building in Tibet. There are several hotels and a guesthouse in Tsetang.Buckley (1986), pp. 153-156.

Climate

Tsetang has a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cwb/BSk''). The average annual temperature in Haidian is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in June, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Notes

Footnotes

References

* Buckley, Michael and Strauss, Robert. ''Tibet: a travel survival kit''. (1986) Lonely Planet Publications, Victoria, Australia. . * * Dorje, Gyurme (2009). ''Tibet Handbook''. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. . * Dowman, Keith. ''The Power-Paces of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', (1988). Routledge & Kegan Paul, London & New York. . * Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) ''Tibet''. 6th Edition. . {{coord, 29, 15, N, 91, 46, E, region:CN-54_type:city, display=title Populated places in Shannan, Tibet Township-level divisions of Tibet