Gyirong County

Gyirong County (Tibetan: སྐྱིད་གྲོང་རྫོང་།; Chinese: 吉隆县; also transliterated as Kyirong or Jilong) is a county of the Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is famous for its mild climatic conditions and its abundant vegetation which is unusual for the Tibetan plateau. The capital lies at Zongga (Gungthang). Its name in Tibetan, Dzongka, means "mud walls".

It is one of the four counties that comprise the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (Kyirong, Dinggyê, Nyalam, and Tingri).

In 1945, Peter Aufschnaiter counted 26 temples and monasteries which covered the area of Gyirong and the neighboring La-sdebs. The most famous temple of Gyirong is the Byams-sprin lha-khang, erected by the famous Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo as one of the four Yang-´dul temples in the 7th century A.D. During the 11th century, the famous South Asian scholar Atisha visited Gyirong. Gyirong was one of the favorite meditation places of the Tibetan Yogin Milarepa.

The local Kyirong language has been researched thoroughly and folk literature of this region was collected and published during the 1980's.

Being downstream of many glaciers on the Poiqu River, Gyirong is vulnerable to flooding.