Ranwu Lake National Forest Park

Ranwu Lake National Forest Park is located in Basu County of Qamdo Prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region. It covers an area of 116150 hectares.

Ranwu Lake National Forest Park – Ranwu Lake

Ranwu Lake, located at the transition area between Nyainqentanglha Mountains and the Hengduan Mountains, is the source area of Parlung Zangbo River. Ranwu Lake National Forest Park covers an average altitude of more than 4000 meters. The highest point in this national park is the main peak of Azha Glacier with an altitude of 6830 meters while the lowest point is located at the estuary area of Ranwu Lake with an altitude of 3860 meters. The average relative height difference in Ranwu Lake National Forest Park is 1500-2000 meters. The altitude in this national park lowers from the northeast to the southwest.

Ranwu Lake is the main source of Parlung Zangbo River – an important tributary of Yarlung Zangbo River. It covers a drainage area 1798 square kilometers. The average runoff depth in the drainage area is about 10 millimeters and the annual inflow of Ranwu Lake is about 1.8 million cubic meters. In winter, Ranwu Lake only enjoys a width of 30-40 meters since winter is the dry season. Ranwu Lake is a freeze lake which would be iced up from late November and unfreeze in late March. It is measured that thickness of the ice in the lake could even reaches 2 meters.

Ranwu Lake National Forest Park – Natural Resource

Ranwu Lake National Forest Park is located at the transition area between the forest region and the meadow region. The vegetation form here is pretty simple. There are subalpine evergreen conifer forest, alpine brush and alpine sparse vegetation belt with the rising of the altitude. It is researched that there are about 505 species of plants growing in Ranwu Lake National Forest Park.

The well preserved primitive forests and sound natural ecological environment in Ranwu Lake National Forest Park provide a good living condition for the wild animals. According to statistics, there are 42 species of mammals, 90 species of birds and 5 species of amphibians in this forest park. A series of animals under state key protection live in the Ranwu Lake National Forest Park, such as the snow leopard, white-lipped deer, golden eagle, haliaeetus albicilla and so on.

Tips for Visiting Ranwu Lake National Forest Park

Ranwu Lake is located at the start point of the Ranwu-Zay Highway. It is about 127 kilometers away from Bome County and about 90 kilometers away from Basu County. Tourists planning a Tibet tour and planning to pay a visit to Ranwu Lake National Forest Park don't need to be over worried about the transportation.

Summer is the rainy season of Ranwu Lake National Forest Park. The shutterbugs here could always take some great pictures of the amazing snow-capped mountains and beautiful lakes if you are planning a trip avoid the rainy season. It is said that spring and autumn are the best seasons of Ranwu Lake National Forest Park. It looks pretty charming and fascinating in autumn.