Get to know Dege County
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Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
- Chinese name
- 德格县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 11,025.00 km²
- Population · 2020
- 88,542
- Administrative seat
- Goinqên (Derge)
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Printing in the county seat
Dege Printing House (德格印经院), founded in 1729, stands on Wenhua Street (文化街) in Gengqing Town (更庆镇). Craftspeople carve Tibetan text into wooden boards, then print onto xuan paper or Tibetan paper. The resulting works include Buddhist scriptures and other writings on Tibetan culture.
Xinluhai’s glacial setting
Yulong Lacuo (玉龙拉措), also called Xinluhai (新路海), was carved by glacial erosion and is replenished by melting snow and ice and by rainfall. Beside National Highway 317, the lake has glacier scenery to its south and pasture to its north. Spruce and juniper grow on the eastern and western slopes, framing the long, narrow lake.
Sources for this guide
走进德格 - 德格县人民政府 · Dege County Government
匠人之心 世界奇迹——德格印经院 - 德格县人民政府 · Dege County Government
玉龙拉措-新路海 - 德格县人民政府 · Dege County Government
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Dege County
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Dege County
Printing inside Dege Parkhang, photographed in July 2009 · 德格印经院 Photograph date recorded by the source: 8 July 2009.Dege Parkhang德格印经院
Dege Parkhang is an active Tibetan printing institution as well as a historic building. Its carved wooden blocks preserve religious works alongside literature, medicine and other subjects. Traditional printing uses inked blocks…
Read the place guide →
Xinluhai (Yihun Lhatso), a turquoise glacial lake below snow-capped peaks, Dege County · 德格县新路海（玉隆拉措），雪山下的冰川湖 Source-recorded photograph date: 23 May 2011 (original upload date).Xinluhai Lake新路海
Glacial lake at 4,040 m below Chola Mountain in Dege County, named Yulong Lhatso in Tibetan and New Road Lake by Sichuan–Tibet Highway builders.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Dege County is about 375 km in a straight line from central Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Search for 德格县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Dege Parkhang and Xinluhai Lake are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture →More in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory (dmfw.mca.gov.cn) · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Dege Parkhang · Italian writer Mario Biondi · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Xinluhai Lake · User: (WT-shared) Elyasaf at wts wikivoyage · Public domain. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.