Namtso or Lake Nam (officially: Namco; ; ; ; “Heavenly Lake” in European literature: Tengri Nor, ) is a mountain lake on the border between

Damxung County Damxung is a county of Lhasa City, lying to the north of its main center of Chengguan, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Its administrative seat is Damquka. The terrain is rugged, including the western Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains, with t ...

Lhasa prefecture-level city Lhasa is a prefecture-level city, one of the main administrative divisions of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It covers an area of of rugged and sparsely populated terrain. Its urban center is Lhasa, with around 300,000 residents, which ...

and

Baingoin County Baingoin County (; zh, s=班戈县), formerly Namru Dzong (), is a county within Nagqu of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Baingoin County got the name from the Baingoin Co (Bangor Co) which is a lake in center of the county. The county li ...

Nagqu Prefecture Nagqu (also Naqu, Nakchu, or Nagchu; ; ) is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Autonomous regions of China, Chinese autonomous region of Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet. On May 7, 2018, the former Nagqu Prefecture was officially declare ...

in the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, approximately NNW of

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

Geography

Namtso (Namco) is a lake that first formed during the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

age, as a result of Himalayan tectonic plate movements. The lake lies at an elevation of , and has a surface area of . This

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

is the largest

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the

. However, it is not the largest lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. That title belongs to

Qinghai Lake Qinghai Lake is the list of lakes by area, largest lakes of China, lake in China. Located in an endorheic basin in Qinghai Province, to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an alkaline lake, alkaline saline lake, salt lake. The ...

(more than twice the size of Namtso); which lies more than to the north-east in

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

. Namtso has five uninhabited islands of reasonable size, in addition to one or two rocky outcrops. The islands have been used for spiritual retreat by pilgrims who walk over the lake's frozen surface at the end of winter, carrying their food with them. They spend the summer there, unable to return to shore again until the water freezes the following winter. This practice is no longer permitted by Chinese authorities. The largest of the islands is in the northwest corner of the lake, and is about long and wide, rising to just over in the middle. At its closest point it is about from the shore.

Climate

The weather at Namtso is subject to abrupt, sudden change and snowstorms are very common across the Nyainqêntanglha range. Namtso has an

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine cli ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''ETH'') characterised by frigid, extremely dry winters and cool, rainy summers.

Other Features

Namtso is renowned as one of the most beautiful places in the

Nyainqêntanglha The Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (officially spelt Nyainqêntanglha Mountains in Chinese) are a long mountain range, and subrange of the Transhimalaya System, located in Tibet and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Geography One source s ...

mountain range. Its cave

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

ages have for centuries been the destination of Tibetan

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s. A surfaced road across Laken Pass at 5186 m was completed to the lake in 2005, enabling easy access from

and the development of tourism at the lake. Settlements in the area include Dobjoi, Donggar and Cha'gyungoinba. The Tashi Dor monastery is located at the southeastern corner of the lake. Around the area's natural elements, historical and anthropological background, a 2010 romantic drama zh, 香格里拉

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by the British author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently ...

, starring China's popular actor Hu Ge, was broadcast at CCTV1 and received positive reviews. Some scenes in the 2002 Hong Kong film The Touch were filmed at the lake. Namtso Lake was featured in Episode 4, ''The Roof of the World'', of BBC TV series: '' Himalaya with Michael Palin''.

Gallery

Asteroid

Asteroid 248388 Namtso, discovered by Italian astronomer Vincenzo Casulli in 2005, was named after the lake. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

on 5 October 2017 ().

References

External links

{{Shannan Prefecture-level city Lakes of Tibet Buddhist pilgrimage sites in China Geography of Lhasa Saline lakes of Asia Damxung County