Gyantse Tour – Gyantse Ancient Town

Gyantse Tour – Introduction of Gyantse Ancient Town.

The Gyantse Ancient Town is a must-visit sight spot in Gyantse Tour. It is located on the upstream of Nianchu River, about 90 kilometers away from Shigatse. It is a historical town with long history and various historical relics. The Gyantse was named "Jieka Erzi". Later, the pronunciation gradually changed into Gyantse. In Yuan Dynasty (1206 – 1368), after Palkhor Monastery was built up in Gyantse, various pilgrims came here. Adding the convenience transportation of Gyantse, it became the third largest town of Tibet. In the Banjuelunbu Monastery, about 4 kilometers on south of Gyantse town, there is the only completely protected feudal lord manor – Pala Manor. The Pala Manor provides us precious samples for the research of feudal serfdom in old Tibet.

Gyantse Tour – History of Gyantse Ancient Town

The Gyantse is also named Hero City since a heroic deed that Gyantse people fought against Britain invade force ever occur there. Until now, there are relics of fort barbette of resisting Britain invade force in 1904. There is a towering maroon rock next to the forth barbette. If you ever watched the film of Honghegu (Red Valley), you may be impressed by the natural scenery of Gyantse and moved by the heroic stories of Gyantse people.

Gyantse Tour – Monastery in Gyantse Ancient Town

The Palkhor Monastery in Gyantse is a well-known monastery in Tibet. It has two distinctive features. The first feature is that the Palkhor Monastery is a monastery with three sects. At first, it belonged to Sakya Sect. Later, the force of Kadampa Sect and Gelug Sect came into the monastery. Hence, the Palkhor Monastery is with Sakya Sect, Kadampa Sect and Gelug Sect. Consequently, the articles enshrined in the monastery and the construction style of the monastery absorbed the features of each sect. The other feature is the Bodhi Pagoda of Palkhor Monastery which consist of hundreds Buddha halls. The amount of Buddha images in the Buddha hall, on niche and fresco is 1 million. Hence, the pagoda is also named Kumbum Pagoda.

Gyantse Tour – Entertainment in Gyantse Ancient Town

The Gyantse Horse Racing Festival is very famous in Tibet. At past, the activities on Horse Racing Festival were horse racing, shooting and shooting on horse back. But now, there are cultural performances, campfire party, horse racing, yak racing, shooting on horse back, lifting stone and other activities.