Gonggye County in Tibet

Gonggye County in Tibet – Brief Introduction

Gonggye County is located in the east part of Qamdo Prefecture and the east part of Tibet Autonomous Region. It lies in the hinderland of Nu River, Lancang River and Jinsha River. It is situated at the north latitude 30°2′ - 31°3′ and east longitude 97°8′ - 98°9′. Kasa Village is the county center of Gonggye County. Kasa Village is located about 3640 meters high. It is approximately 254 kilometers far from Qamdo Town and about 1385 kilometers far from Lhasa City. Since the boundary settlement of 1995, Jinsha River is the boundary of Gonggye County and Baiyu County of Sichuan Province in the east. In the south, Gonggye County adjoins Mangkang County. In the west, it adjoins Chaya County and Qamdo Prefecture. In the north, it adjoins Gyangda County and 317 National Highway. Gonggye County stretches about 106.6 kilometers long from the east to the west and about 118.3 kilometers long from the south to the north. It covers an area of 6268.31 square kilometers in total, which accounts for 5.8% of the acreage of Qamdo Prefecture.

Gonggye County in Tibet – Geography

Gonggye County is located in the valley area of Hengduan Mountain Range of southeastern Tibet. There are full of high mountains, deep valleys, steep cliffs, interlaced hills and rivers, wonderful lakes of different shapes, thick forests and vast grasslands, etc. The terrain of Gonggye County is higher in the southeast part but lower in the northwest part. The lowest elevation is about 2570 meters high and the highest elevation is about 5444 meters. The average elevation is about 4022 meters high. The landform of Gonggye County is complex and diversified. It is divided into the southeastern valley area, western river valley area and southwestern valley area. Gonggye County is characteristic of the temperate semi-arid and semi-humid mountain climate of southeastern Tibet.

Gonggye County in Tibet – Climate

Gonggye County belongs to the plateau temperate monsoon climate zone featuring the thin air and rich sunshine. The annual temperature difference is obviously large but the daily temperature difference is little. The annual average temperature is about 5.2? and the annual precipitation is about 425.5 millimeters. The frostless period lasts about 80 days. As the longer duration of sunshine, the temperature is higher in the daytime in winter in Gonggye County in Tibet.

The latitude of Gonggye County is similar with the latitude of Chengdu, Wuhan and Hangzhou, etc, so that it is characteristic of the moist monsoon climate. With the formation of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the moist monsoon climate of Gonggye County has been gradually changed to the plateau continental monsoon climate. Therefore the climate is different in Gonggye County in Tibet with different terrain and landform.

Generally speaking, the climate could be divided into three types in different areas in Gonggye County in Tibet. The first part is characteristic of the warm and humid climate in the eastern part of Gonggye County along the River Valley of Jinsha River. The elevation is between 2800-3200 meters high. The second part is characteristic of the arid and warm climate in some lower areas. The elevation is between 3500-3900 meters high. The third part is characteristic of the semi-arid and semi-humid climate in southeastern part of Gonggye County. The elevation is about 3900-4500 meters high.