Get to know Shannan

The Yarlung Valley seen from Yumbulagang in Nedong District, Shannan. Photograph date recorded by the source: 2015-09-26 07:27. · Laika ac from UK · CC BY-SA 2.0
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Administrative area: Prefecture-level city · 地级市
Part of: Tibet (Xizang)
Chinese name: 山南市
Local areas: 12 local areas

Area & population

Area in the source: 79,700.00 km²
Population · 2020: 354,035
Administrative seat: Nêdong District (Zêtang)

Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.

Located on the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Valley, formed by the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Lhoka region is often regarded as the birthplace of Tibetan civilization. It is bounded by the city of Lhasa to the north, Nyingchi to the east, Shigatse on the west and the international border with India and Bhutan on the south. The city measures 420 kilometres (260 mi) east to west and 329 kilometres (204 mi) from north to south. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that Tibet's earliest agricultural farmland, its first palace and first Buddhist monastery are all located in Lhoka. It also has the distinction of having held the first lhamo performance. Ethnic Tibetans constitute 98% of the population, the remaining 2% being Han, Hui, Mönpa, Lhoba and other ethnic groups.

Landmarks

The city has very unusual and rich historical monuments, natural geological features such as lakes and caves, scenic regions and religiously linked mountains. This has given a boost to the tourism industry. Some of the important landmarks are; the Lagyable Palace; the Yungbulakang Palace, the first palace in Tibet; the Tombs of Tibetan Kings; Jagsamqionpori, Gangobari of Zatong and Habort mountains, which are venerated; lakes such as Yamzogh Yumcog in Nagarzê County and the Lhamai Laco of Gyacha, which are considered as sacred; and religious places of worship such as the Dorje Drak Monastery (also spelt Do-rje-brag, or Dorjezha Monastery), the Quamzhub Monastery which is under state control, the Samding Monastery, the Samyas Monastery (the first monastery built in Tibet), Quinpu Meditation Cave and the Zayang Zang Karst Cave. Some of the notable monuments and monasteries are in the National Heritage list.

Transport and infrastructure

The city has a very large network of roads amounting to 3700 km, covering all villages and towns. The road emanates from the Tsetang town and spreads to all its 12 counties. The strategic bridge, Qu Shui Bridge across the Yarlung Zangbo River, links Shannan with Lhasa. The city also has the Lhasa Gonggar Airport in Gonggar County, which is 65 km from Lhasa and which is known as the "air way door" to Tibet, as well as the Shannan Longzi Airport in Lhünzê County. The Lhasa airport has direct air links with Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Xi'an, and Kunming. In addition, there are also international flights to Kathmandu and Hong Kong. It is 191 km from Lhasa. Regular buses operate from the two cities of Tsetang and Lhasa every day to the airport.

From the time Tibet Autonomous Region has been opened for other countries, development of many infrastructure and social sectors have recorded dramatic progress such as education, telecommunications and tourism.

Entry & permits for Tibet (Xizang)

Foreign tourists need Tibet entry approval, commonly called a Tibet Travel Permit, and an organised visit arranged through a specialist travel agency in China. Confirm your approved route before booking transport. Requirements differ for Taiwan residents and for travellers using mainland or Hong Kong/Macao Chinese resident documents; check the document guide before you book.

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Policy scope verified: 2026-09-06. UK FCDO: China regional travel advice ↗ State Council Taiwan Affairs Office: Tibet entry approval ↗ Xizang Department of Culture and Tourism: Medog border permit notice ↗

Explore Shannan

Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.

Samye 桑耶寺

Yumbulagang 雍布拉康

Tradruk Temple 昌珠寺

Yamdrok Lake 羊卓雍措

Lhamo La-tso 拉姆拉错

Tsedang 泽当

Lhasa Gonggar Airport 拉萨贡嘎机场

Chimpu Hermitage Official Route 青朴修行地正规开放路线

Zhegu Lake 哲古措

Lajiali Royal Palace Ruins 拉加里王宫遗址

Kajiu Monastery 卡久寺

Sekhar Guthok Monastery 赛卡古托寺

Puma Yumco Lake 普莫雍错

Yamdrok Yumtso Lakeshore 羊卓雍错湖岸

Tombs of the Tibetan Kings 藏王墓

Gampa La Pass Yamdrok Lake Viewpoint 羊卓雍错岗巴拉观景区

Lebu Valley Official Route 勒布沟正规开放线路

Nêdong District 乃东区

Zhanang County 扎囊县

Gonggar County 贡嘎县

Sangri County 桑日县

Qonggyai County 琼结县

Qusum County 曲松县

Comai County 措美县

Lhozhag County 洛扎县

Gyaca County 加查县

Lhünzê County 隆子县

Nagarzê County 浪卡子县

Cona 错那市

Places to explore around Shannan

Samye Monastery · 桑耶寺

Samye桑耶寺

Samye’s plan represents a Buddhist universe in built form. The central Utse hall stands for Mount Meru, with surrounding temples, four differently coloured stupas and a circular enclosure completing the composition. Founded…

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Yumbulagang palace on its rocky hill above the Yarlung Valley, Tibet. Photographed on 27 May 2014.

Yumbulagang雍布拉康

Yumbulagang stands on Tashi Tsering hill above the cultivated Yarlung Valley. Tibetan tradition connects it with the first kings and the beginnings of settled agriculture; the surviving palace-temple has been reconstructed after…

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Entrance forecourt of Tradruk Temple · 昌珠寺 Photograph date recorded by the source: 27 May 2014, 15:03:17.

Tradruk Temple昌珠寺

Tradruk, known locally as Changzhu Temple, belongs to the early religious landscape of the Yarlung Valley. Its columned assembly hall is surrounded by smaller shrines and a circumambulatory passage. The temple is especially…

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Yamdrok Yumtso Lake · 羊卓雍措

Yamdrok Lake羊卓雍措

Yamdrok’s branching shoreline winds between rounded mountain slopes, making the lake look different from each height and direction. The water occupies a high basin in Nangartse/Langkazi and carries a strong sacred association in…

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Lhamo La-tso · 拉姆拉错

Lhamo La-tso拉姆拉错

Lhamo La-tso is a small oracle lake in the mountains of Gyaca, associated with Palden Lhamo and the search for reincarnate lamas. Its significance comes from a tradition of contemplative lake-watching, rather than from a large…

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A wide street in a new town: rows of cream apartment towers on both sides with Tibetan-style lotus street lamps and red lanterns, a red traffic light reading 12, an empty dual carriageway with a zebra crossing, low green hills and a rocky mountain wall behind, and rain droplets on the lens in the upper sky.

Tsedang泽当

Tsedang’s old-town setting beneath Gongbori Mountain connects the modern Shannan base with the traditions of the Yarlung Valley. Local origin stories associate the mountain with the ancestors of the Tibetan people, while the…

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The curved roof of Lhasa Gonggar Airport's Terminal 3 with the forecourt road

Terminal 3 of Lhasa Gonggar Airport, Gonggar County, Shannan · 山南市贡嘎县拉萨贡嘎机场T3航站楼 Source-recorded photograph date: 2025-09-02 07:48:18.

Lhasa Gonggar Airport拉萨贡嘎机场

Lhasa Gonggar is the main air gateway for Lhasa, but the airport is in Gonggar rather than the city centre. Terminal choice matters before planning a pickup: the official airport guide assigns domestic flights to T3 and…

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Chimpu Hermitage Official Route · 青朴修行地正规开放路线

Chimpu Hermitage Official Route青朴修行地正规开放路线

Qingpu (青朴) is a Tibetan Buddhist retreat site in Zhanang County, in the Shannan municipality of Tibet, which the county government describes as a valley-type scenic area enclosed by mountains on three sides at an elevation of 4,300 metres.

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Zhegu Lake · 哲古措

Zhegu Lake哲古措

Zhegu Co (哲古措, also written 哲古湖, Zhegu Lake) is a high-altitude lake at 4,600 metres in Comai County, in the Shannan municipality of Tibet, lying at the seat of Zhegu town and fed mainly by melting snow and ice.

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AI illustration of a general archaeological remains scene; not a photograph or an exact view of this place.

AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非该地点实拍）

Lajiali Royal Palace Ruins拉加里王宫遗址

Ruined 13th to 18th century palace of the Lhagyari dynasty on an earth-pillar terrace on the south side of Qusum town, Shannan; a national key site since 2001.

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Kajiu Monastery · 卡久寺

Kajiu Monastery卡久寺

Kajiu Monastery (卡久寺), whose full name the Lhozhag County government gives as 吉祥隐修院, stands on a cloud-wrapped summit called 佳普晋 behind Lakang town in Lhozhag County, in the Shannan municipality of Tibet, 75 kilometres from the county seat.

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Sekhar Guthok Monastery · 赛卡古托寺

Sekhar Guthok Monastery赛卡古托寺

Saikagutuo Monastery (赛卡古托寺, also written 塞卡尔古陀寺, 色喀谷托寺, 桑噶古多寺 and 桑喀古托寺) stands at the seat of Se township in Lhozhag County, in the Shannan municipality of Tibet, 43 kilometres from the county town at an elevation of 3,700 metres, and is built around a tower whose name means, in Tibetan, the nine-storey castle built for the young lord.

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Blue alpine lake ringed by brown mountains under a clear sky

Lake Puma Yumco with surrounding mountains, Nagarze, Lhoka (Shannan), Tibet · 西藏自治区山南市浪卡子县普莫雍错 Source-recorded photograph date: 12 November 2014 (original upload date).

Puma Yumco Lake普莫雍错

Freshwater lake at about 5,010 m in Nagarzê County, south-west of Yamdrok Lake, fed by meltwater, with patterned ice in winter.

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Yamdrok Yumtso Lakeshore · 羊卓雍错湖岸

Yamdrok Yumtso Lakeshore羊卓雍错湖岸

Yamdrok Yumtso (羊卓雍措) is a high plateau lake lying south of the Yarlung Zangbo in Nagarze County, in the Shannan municipality of Tibet; its shore, ringed by mountains on all four sides, is grazing country, and the water itself is what the county calls the jade lake of the upper pasture.

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Mud-brick village buildings in a valley with mountains and a flag-covered hillside in the background.

The Qonggyai valley near the Tibetan Kings' tombs, with a flag-draped burial mound visible on the hillside, Qonggyai County, Shannan. · 山南市琼结县藏王墓所在琼结河谷，山坡上可见挂满经幡的王陵封土。 Source-recorded photograph date: 2008-09-25.

Tombs of the Tibetan Kings藏王墓

Burial mounds of 7th to 9th century Tubo rulers at Qonggyai, Shannan, including Songtsen Gampo's tomb and the 7.18 m Tride Songtsen stele.

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Gampa La Pass Yamdrok Lake Viewpoint · 羊卓雍错岗巴拉观景区

Gampa La Pass Yamdrok Lake Viewpoint羊卓雍错岗巴拉观景区

The Gampa La viewing area is the high pass on the road by which, the Shannan Municipal Tourism Development Bureau says, most visitors reach Yamdrok Yumtso in the Shannan municipality of Tibet; the bureau puts the pass at 4,790 metres and the lake surface it looks down on at 4,441 metres.

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Lebu Valley Official Route · 勒布沟正规开放线路

Lebu Valley Official Route勒布沟正规开放线路

Lebu Gorge (勒布沟) cuts the southern slope of the Himalaya in the south-west of Cona, in the Shannan municipality of Tibet, adjoining Bhutan on the west and bordering India on the south; the county tourism development commission's page heads it a national AAA-grade scenic area and an autonomous-region scenic and historic area, and gives its average elevation as about 2,400 metres.

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Local life & food

Shannan local specialties

山南市特色美食 · 10 specialties to discover

Tibetan masen barley & butter sweet 西藏玛森AI dish illustration / AI 菜品示意图

Expect toasted grain, rich dairy and sweetness, with a slightly crumbly or compact mouthfeel. Small curd pieces can add a tangy contrast to the butter and sugar.

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Shannan Yarlung Wind-Dried Meat 山南雅砻风干肉

Shannan Yarlung Wind-Dried Meat (山南雅砻风干肉) is raw beef and mutton that Tibetan households cut into strips and hang to dry in the cold, dry air of the Tibetan winter.

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Photo: Source photographer · License not provided

Photo adjustments

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AI illustration: A wooden tray of pale steamed glutinous rice cakes cut into tidy soft blocks.

Lhunze Black Highland Barley Tsampa 隆子黑青稞糌粑AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非实拍）

Lhunze Black Highland Barley Tsampa (隆子黑青稞糌粑) is tsampa (糌粑), the Tibetan staple of roasted barley flour, made from the black highland barley (黑青稞) of Lhunze County (隆子县) in Shannan (山南), Tibet.

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AI illustration: A small unmarked ceramic jug and two tiny cups of pale rice wine.

Qonggyai Highland Barley Wine 琼结青稞酒AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非实拍）

Qonggyai Highland Barley Wine (琼结青稞酒) is highland barley wine from Qonggyai County (琼结县) in Shannan (山南).

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AI illustration: A plate with a few round golden baked or griddled flatbreads.

Gyaca Walnut Cake 加查核桃饼AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非实拍）

Gyaca Walnut Cake (加查核桃饼) is listed among the local specialties of Shannan, Tibet (Xizang). The name includes 核桃 (walnuts). The term 饼 points to cakes or flatbreads.

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AI illustration: A plate of pale boiled lamb chunks with a few bone-in pieces.

Comai Mutton 措美羊肉AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非实拍）

Comai Mutton (措美羊肉) is sheep meat from Comai County (措美县) in Tibet (西藏). A December 2024 Comai County Media Centre (措美县融媒体中心) feature published by Xinhua (新华网) follows its production and sale, including flocks in Gudui Township (古堆乡).

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Butter tea 酥油茶

The flavor is savory, tea-bitter and rich, with a smooth fatty mouthfeel rather than the sweetness of commercial milk tea.

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Photo: Yosomono · CC BY 2.0

Photo adjustments

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Tibetan Blood Sausage 藏式血肠

Tibetan Blood Sausage (藏式血肠) is a traditional Lhasa (拉萨) dish made by filling an animal-intestine casing with blood and other ingredients.

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Photo: Source photographer · License not provided

Photo adjustments

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All dish names · 全部菜名 (10)

More dishes from across Tibet (Xizang) are in the Tibet (Xizang) food guide.

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