Lhünzhub County

Lhünzhub County is located in central Tibet around 65 km (40 mi) northeast of metropolitan Lhasa. It includes the Pengbo River Valley and the upper reaches of the Lhasa River. It covers an area of 4,512 km² (1,742 sq mi).[1] The county is geologically complex, with an average elevation of 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). Mineral resources include lead, zinc, copper, silver, gold and gypsum. A spur of the Nyainqêntanglha mountains crosses the whole territory, dividing it into a southern and northern part.[1]

In the south the Pengbo valley has an average elevation of 3,680 metres (12,070 ft) with a mild climate. The average temperature is 5.8 °C (42.4 °F).[1] The northern "three rivers" section, crossed by the Lhasa River and its tributary the Razheng River, is mountainous and has an average elevation of 4,200 metres (13,800 ft). It has average annual temperature of 2.9 °C (37.2 °F) and is mostly pastoral, with yak, sheep and goats. Wildlife includes roe deer, white-lipped deer, otter, black-necked crane, duck, Mongolian gazelle, ibex. Medicinal plants include Cordyceps, Fritillaria, Rhodiola, and Ganoderma lucidum.[1]

The county was established as Lhünzhub Dzong in 1857. In 1959, it merged with Pundo Dzong to form the modern Lhünzhub County. As of 2000 Lhünzhub County has jurisdiction over one town, Lhünzhub, and 9 townships.

Landscape near Reting monastery

As of 2000 the county had a total population of 50,895, of which 8,111 lived in a community designated as urban. 2,254 had non-agricultural registration and 48,362 had agricultural registration.[2] The Pengbo valley is the main grain-producing region of Lhasa Municipality and Tibet, with a total of 11,931 hectares (29,480 acres) of arable land.[3] Crops include barley, winter wheat, spring wheat, canola and vegetables such as potato.[4] The total output in 1999 was 57,600 tons of grain.[3]

Livestock includes yak, sheep, goats and horses.[1] Yaks graze at altitudes of 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) or more - higher than is practical with cattle.[5] Crop residues are used for winter and spring feed. In 1996 more than 85% of winter and spring feed was straw, mostly barley straw.[6] Linzhou county has been a leading testing and manufacturing center for frozen yak semen, and a center for selective breeding of yaks.[7] Local enterprises prepare Tibetan medicinal plants and process wood products. Ethnic handicrafts are well developed, including weaving and mats. The Pengbo valley has a long history of pottery-making. Products include braziers, flower pots, vases, jugs and so on.[3]

In 2010 the county had a GDP of 839 million yuan, and government revenue was 26.9 million yuan. Investment in fixed assets was 450 million yuan, excluding water conservancy. The per capita income of farmers and herdsmen was 4,587 yuan.[lower-alpha 1] Mining was an important source of income,[lower-alpha 2] and the government had plans to more actively promote tourism.[10]

Hydrology

Hutoushan Reservoir lies in Qangka Township. The reservoir is bordered by large swamps and wet meadows, and has abundant plants and shellfish.[11] The Hutuoshan Reservoir in the Pengbo valley is the largest in Tibet, with planned total storage of 12,000,000 cubic metres (420,000,000 cu ft).[12] Endangered Black-necked cranes migrate to the middle and southern part of Tibet every winter, and may be seen on the reservoir.[13]

There is a small hydropower station in Lhünzhub town. The Pangduo Hydro Power Station became operational in 2014. It impounds the Lhasa River in Pondo Township, about 63 kilometres (39 mi) from Lhasa.[14] The reservoir holds 1,170,000,000 cubic metres (4.1×10¹⁰ cu ft) of water.[15] The power station has total installed capacity of 160 MW, with four generating units.[16] It has been called the "Tibetan Three Gorges".[17]

The county has three major highways with total length of 160 kilometres (99 mi) and twelve rural roads, bringing the total road length to over 260 kilometres (160 mi).[3] The county has a radio and television station. TV coverage is received by 72.1% of the population, and radio by 83.4% of the population. The county has 23 health care establishments, including a County People's Hospital with 30 beds. By the end of 2000 there were 122 medical personnel.[3]

Reting Monastery

The county is a center of Tibetan Buddhism. There are thirty-seven gompas including twenty-five lamaseries with 919 monks and twelve nunneries with 844 nuns as of 2011. The breakdown by sect is twenty-six Gelug, six Kagyu and five Sakya.[3]

Reting Monastery is located in Lhünzhub County and was built in 1056 by Dromtön (1005–1064), a student of Atiśa. It was the earliest monastery of the Gedain sect, and the patriarchal seat of that sect.[18] In 1240 a Mongol force sacked the monastery and killed 500 people. The gompa was rebuilt. [19] When the Gedain sect joined the Gelug sect in the 16th century the monastery adopted the reincarnation system.[18] The incarnations are named Reting Rimpoche.[20] Following an attempted rebellion against the Lhasa government in 1947 Reting was imprisoned in the Potala. After he died in May 1947 the monastery was looted and then razed.[21] In recent years a lot of reconstruction work has been done. About 160 monks reside in Reting.

• Lhünzhub County Annals