Nyingchi

Nyingchi, also known as Linzhi and as Nyingtri, is a prefecture-level city in southeast of China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The administrative seat of Nyingchi is Bayi District. Part of Nyingchi is disputed and currently administered by India as part of Arunachal Pradesh.

Nyingchi

林芝市 · ཉིང་ཁྲི་གྲོང་ཁྱེར།
Prefecture-level city
The urban center Bayi Town in Bayi District
prefecture (orange) in Tibet Autonomous Region (light-orange)
Coordinates (Nyingchi municipal government): 29°38′56″N 94°21′41″E
CountryPeople's Republic of China
Autonomous regionTibet
city seatBayi District (Bayi Town)
Area
 • Total116,175 km2 (44,855 sq mi)
Population
 • Total195,109
 • Density1.7/km2 (4.3/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
ISO 3166 codeCN-XZ-04
Nyingchi
Chinese name
Chinese林芝
Tibetan name
Tibetanཉིང་ཁྲི་ས།

Nyingchi is the location of Buchu Monastery.

Economy

Tourism

Guangdong province announced in 2012 that it plans to invest more than RMB 400 million (US$63 million) in Nyingchi's tourism industry. According to the plan, Guangdong will help build 22 "prosperous model villages" in Nyingchi in counties such as Bomê and Zayü.[1]

Warren W. Smith, a contributor for Radio Free Asia's "Expert on Tibet" series, reviewed a few of author Tsering Woeser's articles on Tibet. In an earlier article from 2007, Woeser writes about Nyingchi's "model villages" where Chinese tourists can live in "fake Tibetan villages" and be entertained by "supposedly happy Tibetans" that sing and dance, and notes that "some of whom are actually Han Chinese dressed up as Tibetans."[2]

Transportation
Nyingchi Mainling Airport

It takes about 5 hours to travel from Lhasa to Nyingchi by a highway opened at the end of 2018.[3] The railway between Lhasa and Nyingchi, part of the Sichuan–Tibet railway, has been under construction since late 2014. It is estimated that it will take about 2 or 3 hours from Lhasa to Nyingchi when the railway come into operation.[4]

The Nyingchi Mainling Airport was opened in Nyingchi in March 2017, which may be used to support both commercial air traffic and the People's Liberation Army Air Force.[5]

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as subtropical highland (Cwb).[6]

Nyingchi Prefecture
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
2
 
 
6
−11
 
 
5
 
 
8
−12
 
 
31
 
 
12
−11
 
 
86
 
 
14
−4
 
 
192
 
 
15
−5
 
 
272
 
 
13
−2
 
 
186
 
 
13
−2
 
 
241
 
 
14
1
 
 
217
 
 
11
−3
 
 
67
 
 
11
−5
 
 
3
 
 
10
−6
 
 
3
 
 
6
−4
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: [7]
Climate data for Nyingchi (1981–2010 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 8.9
(48.0)		 10.2
(50.4)		 13.5
(56.3)		 16.6
(61.9)		 19.5
(67.1)		 21.6
(70.9)		 22.3
(72.1)		 22.1
(71.8)		 20.5
(68.9)		 17.4
(63.3)		 13.7
(56.7)		 10.1
(50.2)		 16.4
(61.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.0
(33.8)		 2.8
(37.0)		 5.9
(42.6)		 8.9
(48.0)		 12.1
(53.8)		 15.1
(59.2)		 16.2
(61.2)		 15.7
(60.3)		 13.9
(57.0)		 10.3
(50.5)		 5.5
(41.9)		 1.7
(35.1)		 9.1
(48.4)
Average low °C (°F) −4.7
(23.5)		 −2.3
(27.9)		 1.0
(33.8)		 3.8
(38.8)		 7.0
(44.6)		 10.8
(51.4)		 12.0
(53.6)		 11.6
(52.9)		 9.9
(49.8)		 5.6
(42.1)		 −0.3
(31.5)		 −4.2
(24.4)		 4.2
(39.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 1.3
(0.05)		 4.4
(0.17)		 19.0
(0.75)		 46.2
(1.82)		 75.3
(2.96)		 119.2
(4.69)		 143.3
(5.64)		 122.2
(4.81)		 110.5
(4.35)		 45.4
(1.79)		 4.7
(0.19)		 1.0
(0.04)		 692.5
(27.26)
Average relative humidity (%) 49 53 58 63 65 72 76 76 76 66 56 50 63
Source: China Meteorological Administration[8]

Flora and fauna
Basum Lake in Gongbo'gyamda County
View of the Nyang River near Nyingchi

"According to local forestry officials, Nyingchi hosts the country's largest primitive forest region that covers 26.4 billion cubic metres, storing over 800 million cubic metres of wood."[9] The forests of Bomi, Zayu and Loyu have ancient dragon spruces which reach heights of over 80 metres and diameters of 2.5 metres. Wildlife species include "the Bengal tiger, leopard, bear, snub-nosed monkey, antelope and lesser panda."[9]

"There are over 2,000 species of higher plants, including some 100 species of xylophyta, 165 species of medical herbs and fungus. Crops include "rice, peanut, apple, orange, banana, lemon." Agricultural products include medicinal materials, "edible fungus, orange, tangerine, sugar cane, honey peach, apple, pear, grape, walnut and other fruits." [9]

Administrative subdivisions

The two counties of Zayü (察隅县) and Mêdog (墨脱县), collectively known as part of South Tibet, are considered by the Chinese government to be under Chinese jurisdiction. Parts of the two counties are under the de facto control of Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Map
# Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Tibetan Wylie Population (2010 Census) Area (km²) Density (/km²)
1 Bayi District 巴宜区 Bāyí Qū བྲག་ཡིབ་ཆུས། brag yib chus 54,702 8,536 6.40
2 Gongbo'gyamda County 工布江达县 Gōngbùjiāngdá Xiàn ཀོང་པོ་རྒྱ་མདའ་རྫོང་། kong po rgya mda' rdzong 29,929 12,960 2.30
3 Mainling County 米林县 Mǐlín Xiàn སྨན་གླིང་རྫོང་། sman gling rdzong 22,834 9,507 2.40
4 Mêdog County 墨脱县 Mòtuō Xiàn མེ་ཏོག་རྫོང་། me tog rdzong 10,963 31,394 0.34
5 Bomê County 波密县 Bōmì Xiàn སྤོ་མེས་རྫོང་། spo mes rdzong 33,480 16,770 1.99
6 Zayü County 察隅县 Cháyú Xiàn རྫ་ཡུལ་རྫོང་། rdza yul rdzong 27,255 31,305 0.87
7 Nang County 朗县 Lǎng Xiàn སྣང་རྫོང་། snang rdzong 15,946 4,114 3.87

Detention and re-education of Larung Gar monks and nuns

The Tibetan Review, a Delhi, India based journal, reports that according to a local resident, 100 nuns and monks studying at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy and residing in Larung Gar were bused to government facilities at Nyingchi after their residences were demolished in 2016 when China began carrying out a forced downsizing of the monastic center earlier that year, leading to their subsequent forced evictions. The Tibetan Review notes that most have returned home after two months, but some were reportedly under continued political re-education.[10]

In a related report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), in November 2016, the authorities forced at least one group of monks and nuns from Larung Gar or the nearby religious community at Yarchen Gar to undergo political re-education and "apparent public humiliation" in Nyingchi. The report also refers to a video in which 12 Tibetan nuns, dressed in religious robes, are dancing on a stage in front of ostensibly an audience of officials. HRW says that the timing and circumstances of the video indicate that the women are Tibetan nuns expelled in 2016 from Larung Gar or Yarchen Gar.[11]

Free Tibet, the organization which releases the video, says that since nuns and monks are not allowed to dance or sing in their robes for entertainment in accordance with Tibetan Buddhist teachings, the video seems to indicate that they have most likely been forced to participate in the performance.[12]

References
  1. "China plans 'Swiss makeover' for tourism in southeast Tibet". CNN Travel. 2012-06-29. Archived from the original on 2020-12-19. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  2. Warren Smith (November 7, 2016). "A Compilation of A Series of 'Expert on Tibet' Programs" (PDF). Radio Free Asia. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020. The government engages in an elaborate deception aimed at Chinese tourists in the way it depicts Tibetan culture. First, Han Chinese tourists are given a false version of Tibetan history in which Tibet has always been a part of China, old Tibet was a feudal serfdom from which Tibetans are grateful to have been liberated by the CCP and Tibetans are now happy and content. Tibetans are depicted as loyal citizens of China without any desire for their own country. Their culture is portrayed as consisting mostly of songs and dances that they are happy to perform for Chinese tourists. Model villages have been built in certain favorite tourist spots, like Nyingtri in Kongpo, where Chinese tourists can live in fake Tibetan villages and be entertained by supposedly happy Tibetans, some of whom are actually Han Chinese dressed up as Tibetans.
  3. An "Attractive" Highway from Lhasa to Nyingchi Will Be Open Archived 2019-06-30 at the Wayback Machine, China Tibet Train Tours, October 23, 2018
  4. "Nyingchi Travel" ChinaTour.net Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2013-8-11
  5. Singh, Mandeep (March 28, 2017). "A Quick Note On Rising People's Liberation Army Air Force Activities in Tibet". Delhi Defence Review. Retrieved March 29, 2017. In March 2017, China opened an airport in Nyingchi, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), only 30 kilometers from the Line of Actual control (LAC) with India. This is the second largest airport in TAR and is closer to LAC than any other airport in the region. While the airport terminal is meant for civil aviation, it is known that Chinese airports, especially those in TAR, are essentially ‘dual-use’ – meant for both civil and military use. As Xinhua had announced in 2015, China is carrying out an ‘integration’ of civil-military airports in order to ‘strengthen aviation safety and combat support capabilities’. This will include joint maintenance of airport support facilities, joint flight safety support and joint airport management. Incidentally, one of the first airports to implement the aforesaid ‘integration’ was the Lhasa Gonggar Airport in TAR, having completed the process in 2015 itself. It can therefore be said that Nyingchi airport gives the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) an additional operational base in TAR, and one that is right opposite the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh Overall, this development is in keeping with the recent increase in the tempo of PLAAF activities in TAR.
  6. "Temperature, Climate graph, Climate table for Nyingchi". Climate-Data.org. Archived from the original on 2017-06-10. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  7. "NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index". NASA. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  8. 中国气象数据网 - WeatherBk Data (in Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Archived from the original on 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  9. "Tibet travel guide of Nyingchi Region, Bayi Town". Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  10. "Political re-education awaits monks and nuns expelled from Larung Gar". Tibetan Review. November 6, 2016. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  11. "China: Major Tibetan Buddhist Institution Faces Further Demolitions". Human Rights Watch. March 29, 2017. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020. A second video, circulated a few days after the first, shows 12 Tibetan nuns dancing on the stage of a theater in front of what appears to be an audience of officials. The nuns, dressed in religious robes, perform a choreographed dance routine to the song, “The Song of the Emancipated Serfs.” The song is associated with official Communist Party celebrations and was originally performed in front of Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1959. A banner above the stage reads “Graduation Art Show for the Law and Politics Training Course for Buddhist Monks and Nuns, Kongpo Gyamda County.” Kongpo Gyamda county (Gongbujiangda in Chinese) is in Nyingtri municipality, and the video is believed to have been filmed there on November 10, 2016.
  12. "Controversial footage shows nuns in choreographed performance". Free Tibet. December 6, 2016. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
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