Yangbajain (also spelled Yangbajing; ) is a town approximately north-west 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 ...

, halfway to Damxung 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 ...

. The town lies just south of the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains, in an upland lush green valley surrounded by the tents of

nomads Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, Nomadic pastoralism, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and Merchant, trader nomads. In the twentieth century, ...

with grazing yak and

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

populating the hillside. It is the site Yangpachen Monastery, which was historically the seat of the Shamarpas of Karma Kagyü and the Yangbajing International Cosmic Ray Observatory.

Geothermal field

The area is famous for the Yangbajain Geothermal Field, which has been harnessed to produce electricity for the capital

. There is a thermoelectric power plant on the edge of the Yangbajain field covering 20–30 square kilometers. The power plant was established in 1977, and was the first development of

geothermal power Geothermal power is electricity generation, electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation i ...

not only in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

but in the whole of

. The Yangbajain hot springs field is at an elevation of which makes it the highest elevation set of hot springs in China, and possibly the world. The highest temperature inside the drilling hole is 125.5°C.

Holy Medical Spring Resort

The Holy Medical Spring Resort has both two indoor swimming pools and one outdoor swimming pool, all filled with

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

water. Bathing is allowed at an elevation of 4200 m

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

, likely making it the highest swimming pool in the world. Qingzang railway Train 01

Yangbajing International Cosmic Ray Observatory

The YBJ International Cosmic Ray Observatory (羊八井国际宇宙线观测站) is located in the Yangbajing valley of the Tibetan highland, a site chosen for its high elevation at 4300 meters above sea level. Collaborating institutes includes the INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and various Chinese and Japanese universities. The KOSMA 3-m submillimeter telescope has been relocated to a nearby site and renamed CCOSMA.

References

{{coord, 30, 5, N, 90, 33, E, display=title, region:CN_type:city_source:zhwiki Populated places in Lhasa (prefecture-level city) Astronomical observatories in China Damxung County

Geothermal field

Holy Medical Spring Resort

Yangbajing International Cosmic Ray Observatory

See also

References