Shannan Prefecture
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Shannan Prefecture

Update: Jan. 11th, 2013

Shannan Prefecture

Shannan Prefecture is the cradleland of Tibetan culture. It is located at southeastern Tibet, the middle and lower reaches of the main stream of Yarlung Zangbo River.

Shannan Prefecture – Brief Introduction

Shannan Prefecture connects Lhasa in the north and Nyingchi Prefecture in the east. It also borders India and Bhutan in the south. Shannan Prefecture has a border line of more than 600 kilometers. It is of great significance in geological position since it is located in the southwest of China.

Shannan Prefecture is the location of Lhasa Gonggar International Airport. Shannan Prefecture is the foothold for a lot of tourists come to Tibet. Shannan Prefecture centers on Tsedang Town. It covers an area of 79700 square kilometers (it takes one fifteenths of the total area of Tibet). There are 12 counties, 56 towns and 596 villages in this prefecture. It has a population of 0.318 million and 14 nationalities live here. Tibetan takes 96 percent of the total population here.

Shannan Prefecture – Natural Environment

The annual average temperature in Shannan Prefecture is 7.4-8.9?. It has a short and cool summer. The winter here lasts long and is characterized by dry. The wind is pretty strong in winter. There is a big temperature difference between day and night here. its frost-free period is relatively short.

Shannan Prefecture is a typical valley in southern Tibet. The terrain here lowers gradually from the west to the east with an average altitude of about 3700 meters. The mother river of Tibetan – the Yarlung Zangbo River flows through seven counties in Shannan Prefecture.

Besides, there are 41 rivers flow through the high mountains and deep valleys in Shannan Prefecture. The river basin of these rivers covers an area of 38000 square kilometers. There are also 88 lakes in Shannan Prefecture. These lakes look like green jades inlaid among the mountains.

Shannan Prefecture – Hydro-energy Resource

Shannan Prefecture is rich in hydro-energy resource since there are many rivers and lakes here. The lakes here impound 17 billion cubic meters of water. The glaciers here also store about one billion cubic meters of water. There is about 23 billion cubic meters of ground water and the annual average runoff reaches about 55 billion cubic meters in Shannan Prefecture.

So far, the construction of Yamdrok Lake Pumped Storage Power Station has been completed. It has been put into operation. The construction of the Primary Power Station on Awka River has also been completed. These power stations would help ease the power shortage in Lhasa and the surrounding area. Besides, there are also considerable solar resources and wind energy resources in Shannan Prefecture.

Shannan Prefecture - Cradleland of Tibetan Culture

The abundant natural resources here made Shannan Prefecture one of the cradlelands of Tibetan culture. Shannan Prefecture plays important role in the history of Tibet with its traditional culture. It was widely accepted as the cradle of Tibetan culture since a lot of things firstly happened here.

The first slavery regime – Tubo Kingdom was firstly established in Shannan Prefecture and the Tubo Kingdom united Tibet in the later history. The first Tibetan King - Nyatri Tsenpo was born in Shannan Prefecture. The first palace (Yungbu Lakhang), the first shrine (Trundruk Monastery) and the first monastery (Samye Monastery) in Tibet were constructed in Shannan Prefecture.

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