As our car climbed over Milha Mountain, the air gradually became more humid, and shrubs, birch woods and pinewoods spread over the slopes. People coming for the first time would not believe this place is in Tibet.

Nyingchi is located in southeastern Tibet. The counties subordinated to it are all the main forestry districts of Tibet, including Zayu, Bome, Medog, Nyingchi, Mailing, Nangxian and Gongbogyangda. It has the second highest volume of forestry resources in China, so is also known as a 'Green Treasury'.

Cogao Lake



Passing through Gongbogyangda County, we arrived at Baheqiao Town soon afterwards. With support from Guangdong Province, an area that used to have no inhabitants has become a new town.

Pasang Qu is the largest tributary of the Nyang Qu River. After driving upstream for over an hour, we reached Cogao Lake, a famous scenic spot.

Cogao Lake is a freshwater lake that has the look of a piece of white hada scarf, so it is called 'Hada Presenting Lake'.

Lake Center Islet and Cozong Monastery: In Cogao Lake lies Lake Center Islet, on which is located Cozong Monastery. We reached it by raft. The forest there is very thick, and pieces of sutra streamers printed with the Six-Syllable Prayer were fluttering in the wind.

Pine tree embraced by peach tree: On the islet, there is an old peach tree that embraces a pine tree. Both trees continue to flourish. You will not believe it unless you see it in person.

Stone flying from India: There is also a large flagstone that is used during celestial burial. Around the flagstone are many sutra streamers. It is said that it had flew here from India. It is also said that, during the construction of Cozong Monastery, there was a complete lack of stones on the islet, but, one night, a stone suddenly flew there from the lake's northern bank.

Divine Tiger and mask of Buddha figure: Local people call Cogao 'ivine Lake' In the 4th and 5th months of the Tibetan calendar every year, they come to take a ritual walk around it to pray and seek a blessing from the spirits. According to legend, long ago, a supernatural being decided to build Cozong Monastery containing the face of the largest Buddha figure identical to one in India. This being ordered a divine tiger to bring back a mask of the Buddha figure from India, so that craftsmen could copy it. While returning, the tiger became very tired and fell asleep on top of the mountain. When the tiger woke up and arrived at Cogao Lake, the temple fair had begun. It was a little late, so craftsmen just hung the mask on the head of the Buddha figure. Since then, the face of the Buddha has been covered by a mask instead of being sculptured.

Tibetan Alphabet Tree: On the islet is an old green ridge tree. It is said that, after the establishment of Cozong Monastery, the same supernatural being recruited many disciples who stayed on the islet to learn scriptures and cultivate themselves. As they could not find paper and pens on the islet, they picked leaves and wrote on them with charcoal. Furthermore, each disciple left his own animal picture on the leaves, symbolizing the year in which he was born. So the leaves growing on this tree show letters of the Tibetan alphabet and the twelve animals. If a person picks a leave that shows Tibetan letters and his own animal, he will be regarded as having the best fortune.



Linkage between lakes: The guide told us that the bottom of Cogao Lake was connected with that of Ngazha Lake of Jiali County. It is said that, long ago, a herdsman of Jiali County carried salt by yaks to exchange for food in Gongbogyangda. But, while passing Ngazha Lake, two of the yaks fell into the water. When the herdsman reached Cogao Lake, he found the two dead yaks were floating on the surface. He skinned them and hung the skins on the islet to show the linkage between the bottoms of Cogao Lake and Ngazha Lake.

Cave of Praying for Children: There is virgin forest on the upper side of Cogao Lake. Walking along a brook to the mountain slope, we can see many sutra streamers and pieces of hada hung on trees, and a cave shaped like female genitalia as well. According to local people, it came into being naturally. Childless couples burn joss sticks and pray for a child before the cave and the spirits will bless them.

Peach County

In April every year, peach flowers are flourishing all over the two banks of the Nyang Qu River in Nyingchi County and decorate the place most beautifully. Some peach trees here are wild and others are fine varieties planted by people. There are also terraced fields. Lines of flourishing peach flowers set off by the green cornfields make the whole mountain slope seem like the bright apron of a Tibetan woman.

When tourists come to Peach County, girls will offer them cups of qingke barley wine and sing many toasting songs for them.

But one has to be careful: some Tibetan girls there will catch hold of you and throw you up into the air or catch your hands and legs as you descend. But these acts definitely represent warm friendship.

King of Cypress, King of Mulberry and King of Walnut Tree

King of Cypress is in Purqoin Village, where cypress trees cover an area of 10 hectares. Their average height is 44 meters with a trunk diameter of 1.58 meters. The largest cypress is named as 'est of Chinese Cypress' ith the height of 52 meters and trunk diameter of 5.8 meters. It is over 2,600 years old now and is named as King of the World' Cypress. It is said that it is the life tree of Sinraomiqiho, the founder of the Bon religion.

The King of Mulberry is near Bangna Village. It is 7.4 meters high and its trunk diameter is 4 meters, with an age of over 1,600 years. The mulberry is flourishing with leaves but without flowers or fruits, and is called a male tree. Every time before it rains, water will drop from the leaves of the tree so it is called as a 'weather forecasting tree' y local people. It is said that, long ago, the Nyang Qu River and the Yarlung Zangbo River were in flood at the same time. Bangna Village was flooded but several residents of this village escaped from death by climbing up the King of Mulberry, so it is also called a 'ife-saving tree'

The King of Walnut Tree is near Mirui Village. It is 35 meters high, with a 4.5-meter high trunk and a diameter of 2.66 meters. Its crown covers 15 hectares and it is over 800 years old.

Lamaling Monastery

Tibetan Buddhism first appeared in the 7th century. In 641, Princess Wencheng went to Tibet from Chang¡¯an taking with her the figure of Sakyamuni as a 12-year-old. Later, Buddhism in Tibet became divided into four great sects: the Gedain (Gelug), Gagyu, Sagya and Nyingma. Lamaling Monastery belongs to the Nyingma Sect and Master Padmasambhava. Lamas and Buddhist nuns live in separate monasteries in other places, but Lamaling Monastery has both.

There are two Buddhist Halls, three stories high in the monastery, where bronze and golden figures of Master Padmasambhava are displayed. The Nyingma Sect inherited a lot of the traditions of the native Bon religion that respects nature and thinks everything has a spirit. In addition, this sect involves phallic worship and offers sacrifice to genitalia.

Lamaling Monastery is located halfway up a mountain slope and in a dense sequestered forestry beside a road in Mailing County. The monks plant trees and flowers besides their religious duties.

Shangba La¡ªLulang in Tibet

Starting off from Bayi Township, we drove along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway to Nyingchi County in the east and thought the highway looked like a piece of white hada floating among the mountains.

In spring, the top of Seqi La Mountain is covered by azaleas blossoming against the backdrop of surviving snow.

Our car drove down to the foot of the mountain. Soon after, we entered a virgin forest, the land becoming flat and broad. Lulang is Shangba La in Tibetan, meaning Heaven.

Soon, our car arrived at Lulang Township. In recent years, many restaurants and hotels have been established in the township. In Lulang, a dish of chicken roasted with Tibetan ginseng like a palm is not only delicious, but also nourishing.

After a filling lunch, we entered the scenic spot. Distant snowy mountains showed their smiling face and then became shy and seemed to be covering themselves with a veil. The vast meadow looks like a green carpet and the sparse pine trees are tall and straight like green umbrellas standing on the meadow. Under the trees, groups of tourists were drinking qingke barley wine and ghee tea, and couples were playing instruments and singing¡­



This is a fairyland far away from the common world. Ancestors of some local residents of Lulang and Medog are Buddhist disciples coming from the hinterland, who aimed at finding the Heaven mentioned in Buddhist legend, and who had climbed many mountains and forded many rivers to the West before coming here. When arriving at Lulang and Medog, they saw the snow-covered mountains, forests, rivers and meadow. They found the scene here was so beautiful that they were sure it was Heaven and decided to settle down here.

Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon

Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon is the greatest canyon in the world.

The section of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Pai Town, Mailing County becomes narrow and its slope becomes steep; the river takes a U-turn and is very grand.

Many tourists and scientists go to the Grand Canyon from China¡¯s hinterland and foreign countries for sightseeing and scientific inspection. As Medog is the only county not connected with other places by roads, tourists and scientists have to walk along the river section.

Passing Lulang and Dongqug, we arrived at Peilung Moinba Town. There is a hanging bridge over the Lhayu Qu River, a tributary of Parlung Zangbo River. We got off and passed over the bridge on foot until we arrived at the meeting point of the Parlung Zangbo and the Yarlung Zangbo. Then, we climbed up the mountain on the left side of the Yarlung Zangbo River to admire the breathtaking scenery of the U-turn of the Yarlung Zangbo River.

In theory, the straight distance between Pai Town and Medog is 39 kilometers. In case of cutting tunnel, an immense head of water will be obtained. If a dam of 90-120 meters high is established, there will be a fall of over 2,300 meters. If a power station is built here, the electricity generated will reach 40 million kW, which will be the largest hydroelectric power station in the world with the generation capacity over twice that of the Three Gorges.

Source: China's Tibet
BY YANG SHIQIN