Jainca County 尖扎县

Setting and landscape

The ground is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, from Shenbao Mountain (申宝山, 4,614 metres) down to the mouth of the Longwu River (隆务河) at 1,960 metres. Six hydropower stations, among them Lijiaxia (李家峡) and Zhigangla Ka (直岗拉卡), have turned the Yellow River into about 60 square kilometres of reservoirs, rated a national Yellow River corridor water-conservancy scenic area. The county government describes a highland cool, semi-arid climate with a mean annual temperature of 7.8°C, with 58 to 63 percent of the year's rain falling in July, August and September, and counts Jainca County among the warmest parts of Qinghai.

What to see

Kanbula's Danxia scenery is made up of peaks, mesas, caves and cliffs. Near Dehong village (德洪村), the formation called "Fairy Gathering" (仙女聚会) is a cluster of dozens of conical hills. The scenic area also holds Aqiong Namzong (阿琼南宗), where three monks fleeing the Tibetan king Langdarma's (达玛) suppression of Buddhism took refuge; the Nanzong monastery and nunnery below the peak were built in the Qing dynasty. Kanbula also gives its name to a geopark of about 3,137 square kilometres that extends into Tongren and Zêkog.

The Angla chieftain's manor (昂拉千户府) was first built in the Qing dynasty and rebuilt between 1941 and 1949 by Xiang Qian (项谦东知), the seventh hereditary chieftain of Angla. Its rammed-earth walls stand over 7 metres high and enclose 97 rooms; it became a national key heritage site in November 2019.

Luoduojie Zhihe Temple (洛多杰智合寺), 4 kilometres from the county town, dates its founding to 842. Its upper court has 24 natural and man-made caves set in a row halfway up the mountainside. The county government calls these caves the "Mogao Caves of the Tibetan Plateau", and they have been a provincial heritage site since 1998.

In Dangshun township (当顺乡), the Youth Waterfall (青春瀑布) falls in two tiers over about 100 metres. The Tibetan poet Dhondup Gyal (端智嘉) was born here and named a poem after it.

History

In 576 the Northern Zhou set up Dahua commandery (达化郡) around today's Zhigangla Ka; later the area was governed from Guide (贵德). Jainca County was split off from Guide County on 2 June 1953 and placed under Huangnan in December of the same year.

Highlights

• Kanbula 坎布拉: Danxia landform of peaks, mesas, caves and cliffs; a national AAAA scenic area.
• Angla chieftain's manor 昂拉千户府: Rebuilt 1941-1949 by the seventh Angla chieftain; national key heritage site since 2019.
• Luoduojie Zhihe Temple 洛多杰智合寺: Cave temple founded in 842 with 24 caves in its upper court.
• Youth Waterfall 青春瀑布: Two-tier waterfall of about 100 metres, birthplace of the poet Dhondup Gyal.