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.
Check the travel-document requirements →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 ↗
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Explore the region
About Puma Yumco Lake
Puma Yumco Lake (普莫雍错) is a freshwater lake at about 5,010 m in Pumajiangtang Township (普玛江塘乡), Nagarzê County (浪卡子县), Shannan (山南), in southern Tibet. It lies south-west of Yamdrok Lake (羊卓雍错) and 135 km south-west of Lhasa.
Chinese Wikipedia gives the lake an area of 290 km² and a greatest depth of 60 to 65 m; English Wikipedia gives its length as 32 km and its width as 14 km. It is fed mainly by six rivers of snow and ice meltwater from the surrounding mountains, and its excess water drains from the south-eastern end into Yamdrok Lake. The lake has been shrinking steadily since 2000. Its Tibetan name joins the words for girl (普莫), jade (雍) and lake (错), and is often read as "the jade-like maiden lake".
The water is extremely poor in nutrients, and so are the sediments on the lake bed; lakes of this kind usually have very clear, blue to blue-green water. In winter the lake freezes over and shepherds cross it with their sheep. As the ice freezes, cracks and refreezes again and again, shifted by wind and by swings in temperature, it forms a mosaic of ice blocks whose patterns range from under ten metres to hundreds of metres across. The lakeshore is good pasture.
The Shannan city government describes Pumajiangtang, with an average altitude of 5,373 m, as the highest township in China; its winter lasts nine months and the yearly mean temperature is minus 7°C. National road G219 runs along the lakeshore, and a 2024 Xinhua announcement of a cycle race round the lake calls Puma Yumco "the world's highest freshwater lake" and "China's Baikal" (中国贝加尔湖).
What to look for
- The lake from National Road G219, which follows its shore
- Winter mosaics of ice blocks, from under ten metres to hundreds of metres across
- Shepherds taking sheep across the frozen lake in winter
- The south-eastern outlet, where surplus water leaves towards Yamdrok Lake
- Lakeshore pasture and the snow-capped mountains whose streams feed the lake
Location & getting there
Getting to Puma Yumco Lake
- Search for 普莫雍错 with 山南市 and 浪卡子县.
Find Puma Yumco Lake
普莫雍错 · 浪卡子县
No reliable map pin yet: search by the Chinese name.
Sources & visit information
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-23. Opening hours, admission and access arrangements are not covered; confirm current visitor information with the site.
- 普莫雍错 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 ↗
- Puma Yumco - Wikipedia ↗
- 海拔5373米之上的暖心民生实践 ↗
- 浪卡子县普玛江塘乡的变迁 ↗
- 2024普莫雍措世界海拔最高的环湖赛来了！ ↗
Some facts checked against Wikipedia contributors, "普莫雍错" · CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against Wikipedia contributors, "Puma Yumco" · CC BY-SA 4.0.