Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon
Encyclopedia
The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon or simply the Tsangpo Canyon or Tsangpo Gorge, along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet
, China
, is regarded by some as the deepest canyon
in the world, and is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon, making it one of the world's largest. The Yarlung Tsangpo River, usually just called "Zangbo" (also spelled "Tsangpo", meaning "purifier"), originates from Mount Kailash
and running east for about 1700 km drains a northern section of the Himalayas
before its enters the gorge near downstream of Pei, Tibet
near the settlement of Zhibe. The canyon has a length of about 150 miles (240 km) as the gorge bends around Mount Namcha Barwa
(7782 m) and cuts its way through the eastern Himalayan range. Its waters drop from about 2,900 m near Pei to about 1,500 m at the end of the Upper Gorge where the Po Tsangpo River enters. The river continues through the Lower Gorge to the border at an elevation of 660 m. The river then enters Arunachal Pradesh
, India, and eventually becomes the Brahmaputra.
(Namjabarwa) and Gyala Peri
mountains, it reaches an average depth of about 16,000 feet (5,000 m) around Namcha Barwa. Canyon's average depth is about 7,440 feet (2,268 m), the deepest depth reaches 19,714 feet (6,009 m). This is one of the deepest canyons on Earth. This part of the canyon is at 29.769742°N 94.989853°W. Namcha Barwa, 25,531 feet(7782m) high, is at 29°37′33"N 95°03′26"E, and Gyala Peri, at 23,733 feet(7234m), is at 29°48′48"N 94°58′02"E.
with species of animals and plants barely explored and affected by human influence. Its climate ranges from subtropical to Arctic. The highest temperature in Tibet is 43.6 °C and is recorded near the border of India at an elevation of approximately 600 meters above sea level. The rare takin
is one of the animals hunted by the local tribes.
Western interest in the Tsangpo began in the 19th century when British explorers and geographers speculated where Tibet's east-flowing Tsangpo ended up, suspecting the Brahmaputra. Since British citizens were not allowed to enter Tibet they recruited Indian “pundits” to do the footwork. Kinthup
from Sikkim entered the gorge near Gyala but it proved to be impenetrable. In 1880 Kinthup was sent back to test the Brahmaputra theory by releasing 500 specially marked logs into the river at a prearranged time. His British boss Captain Henry Harman would post men on the Dihang-Brahmaputra to watch for their arrival. However Kinthup was sold into slavery, escaped, and ended up employed at a monastery. On three leaves of absence he managed to craft the logs, send a letter from Lhasa with his new intended schedule, and send off the logs. Four years had passed. Unfortunately his note to alert the British got misdirected, his boss had left India, and nobody checked for the appearance of the logs.
In 1913, Frederick Marshman Bailey launched an expedition into the gorge that finally confirmed that the Tsangpo was indeed the upper Brahmaputra. Frank Kingdon-Ward
started an expedition in 1924 in hopes of finding a major waterfall explaining the difference in altitude between the Tsangpo and the Brahmaputra. It turned out that the gorge has a series of relatively steep sections. Among them was a waterfall he named “Rainbow Falls”, not as big as he had hoped.
The area was closed after China took over Tibet and disputed the location of the border
in the Sino-Indian War
. The Chinese government finally resumed issuing permits in the 1990s. Since then the gorge has also been visited by kayakers
. It has been called the “Everest of Rivers” because of the extreme conditions. The first attempt was made in 1993 by a Japanese group who lost one member on the river. In October 1998 an expedition sponsored by National Geographic Society
attempting to kayak the entire gorge. Troubled by unanticipated high water levels, it ended in tragedy when Doug Gordon was lost. In January–February, 2002 an international group with Scott Lindgren, Steve Fisher, Mike Abbott, Allan Ellard, Dustin Knapp, and Johnnie and Willie Kern completed the first full descent of the upper Tsangpo gorge section.
The largest waterfalls of the gorge (near Tsangpo Badong, Chinese
: ) were visited in 1998, by a team consisting of Ken Storm, Hamid Sarder, Ian Baker and their Monpa guides. They estimated the height of the falls to be about 108 feet (33 m). The falls along with the rest of the Pemako area are sacred to Tibetan Buddhists who had concealed them from outsiders including the Chinese authorities. In 2005 Chinese National Geography
named them China's most beautiful waterfalls. The gorges may have helped inspire the idea of Shangri-La
in James Hilton
's book Lost Horizon
in 1933.
There are two waterfalls in this section: Rainbow Falls (about 70 feet high) at 29.777164°N 95.183406°W, and Hidden Falls just downstream at 29.776023°N 95.181974°W(about 100 feet high).
While the government of the PRC
has declared the establishment of a "Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon National Reservation", there have also been governmental plans and feasibility studies for a major dam to harness hydroelectric power
and divert water to other areas in China. The size of the dam in the Tsongpo gorge would exceed that of Three Gorges Dam
as it is anticipated that such a plant would generate 40,000 megawatts electricity, more than twice the output of Three Gorges. It is feared that there will be displacement of local populations, destruction of ecosystems, and an impact for downstream people in India
and Bangladesh
. The project is criticized by India because of its potential negative impact upon the residents downstream.
However, another type of dam, the inflatable, is possible that would obviate any necessity for a huge concrete structure. R.B. Cathcart, in 1999, first suggested a fabric dam—inflatable with freshwater or air—could block the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon upstream of Namcha Barwa. Water would then be conveyed via a hardrock tunnel to a point downstream from that mountain, affording the generation of tens of thousands of megawatts—power which would have to be distributed internationally and equitably through a Himalayan power grid.
Defenders of the project state that currently most of the water flows into the Indian Ocean, and the project will only take away superfluous unused water resources from the rivers south of Tibet. Some even speculate that the project would positively affect places like Bangladesh
by reducing flooding.
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, is regarded by some as the deepest canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
in the world, and is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon, making it one of the world's largest. The Yarlung Tsangpo River, usually just called "Zangbo" (also spelled "Tsangpo", meaning "purifier"), originates from Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Himalayas in Tibet...
and running east for about 1700 km drains a northern section of the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
before its enters the gorge near downstream of Pei, Tibet
Pei, Tibet
Pei is a village in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.The town is considered to be at the entrance to the Tsangpo Gorge.-See also:*List of towns and villages in Tibet...
near the settlement of Zhibe. The canyon has a length of about 150 miles (240 km) as the gorge bends around Mount Namcha Barwa
Namcha Barwa
Namjagbarwa Peak , also known as Namcha Barwa, Namchabarwa, or Nanjiabawa Feng, is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya. The traditional definition of the Himalaya extending from the Indus River to the Brahmaputra would make it the eastern anchor of the entire mountain chain, and it is the highest...
(7782 m) and cuts its way through the eastern Himalayan range. Its waters drop from about 2,900 m near Pei to about 1,500 m at the end of the Upper Gorge where the Po Tsangpo River enters. The river continues through the Lower Gorge to the border at an elevation of 660 m. The river then enters Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
, India, and eventually becomes the Brahmaputra.
Canyon Depth
As the canyon passes between the peaks of the Namcha BarwaNamcha Barwa
Namjagbarwa Peak , also known as Namcha Barwa, Namchabarwa, or Nanjiabawa Feng, is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya. The traditional definition of the Himalaya extending from the Indus River to the Brahmaputra would make it the eastern anchor of the entire mountain chain, and it is the highest...
(Namjabarwa) and Gyala Peri
Gyala Peri
Gyala Peri is a peak just beyond the eastern end of the Himalaya at the entrance to Tsangpo gorge. Its height is sometimes listed as 7150 m....
mountains, it reaches an average depth of about 16,000 feet (5,000 m) around Namcha Barwa. Canyon's average depth is about 7,440 feet (2,268 m), the deepest depth reaches 19,714 feet (6,009 m). This is one of the deepest canyons on Earth. This part of the canyon is at 29.769742°N 94.989853°W. Namcha Barwa, 25,531 feet(7782m) high, is at 29°37′33"N 95°03′26"E, and Gyala Peri, at 23,733 feet(7234m), is at 29°48′48"N 94°58′02"E.
Ecosystem
The gorge has a unique ecosystemEcosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
with species of animals and plants barely explored and affected by human influence. Its climate ranges from subtropical to Arctic. The highest temperature in Tibet is 43.6 °C and is recorded near the border of India at an elevation of approximately 600 meters above sea level. The rare takin
Takin
The Takin , also called cattle chamois or gnu goat, is a goat-antelope found in the Eastern Himalayas. There are four subspecies: B. taxicolor taxicolor, the Mishmi Takin; B. taxicolor bedfordi, the Shanxi or Golden Takin; B. taxicolor tibetana, the Tibetan or Sichuan Takin; and B. taxicolor...
is one of the animals hunted by the local tribes.
The Everest of Rivers
Kinthup
Kinthup, a Lepcha man from Sikkim, was an explorer in the area of Tibet in the 1880s. His adventure sounds incredible, but is supported by some geographical information that could only be attained by making the expedition....
from Sikkim entered the gorge near Gyala but it proved to be impenetrable. In 1880 Kinthup was sent back to test the Brahmaputra theory by releasing 500 specially marked logs into the river at a prearranged time. His British boss Captain Henry Harman would post men on the Dihang-Brahmaputra to watch for their arrival. However Kinthup was sold into slavery, escaped, and ended up employed at a monastery. On three leaves of absence he managed to craft the logs, send a letter from Lhasa with his new intended schedule, and send off the logs. Four years had passed. Unfortunately his note to alert the British got misdirected, his boss had left India, and nobody checked for the appearance of the logs.
In 1913, Frederick Marshman Bailey launched an expedition into the gorge that finally confirmed that the Tsangpo was indeed the upper Brahmaputra. Frank Kingdon-Ward
Frank Kingdon-Ward
Francis Kingdon-Ward, born Francis Kingdon Ward was an English botanist, explorer, plant collector and author. He published most of his books as Frank Kingdon-Ward and this hyphenated form of his name stuck, becoming the surname of his wives and two daughters...
started an expedition in 1924 in hopes of finding a major waterfall explaining the difference in altitude between the Tsangpo and the Brahmaputra. It turned out that the gorge has a series of relatively steep sections. Among them was a waterfall he named “Rainbow Falls”, not as big as he had hoped.
The area was closed after China took over Tibet and disputed the location of the border
McMahon Line
The McMahon Line is a line agreed to by Great Britain and Tibet as part of Simla Accord, a treaty signed in 1914. Although its legal status is disputed by China, it is the effective boundary between China and India....
in the Sino-Indian War
Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War , also known as the Sino-Indian Border Conflict , was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a role. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan...
. The Chinese government finally resumed issuing permits in the 1990s. Since then the gorge has also been visited by kayakers
Whitewater kayaking
Whitewater kayaking is the sport of paddling a kayak on a moving body of water, typically a whitewater river. Whitewater kayaking can range from simple, carefree gently moving water, to demanding, dangerous whitewater. River rapids are graded like ski runs according to the difficulty, danger or...
. It has been called the “Everest of Rivers” because of the extreme conditions. The first attempt was made in 1993 by a Japanese group who lost one member on the river. In October 1998 an expedition sponsored by National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
attempting to kayak the entire gorge. Troubled by unanticipated high water levels, it ended in tragedy when Doug Gordon was lost. In January–February, 2002 an international group with Scott Lindgren, Steve Fisher, Mike Abbott, Allan Ellard, Dustin Knapp, and Johnnie and Willie Kern completed the first full descent of the upper Tsangpo gorge section.
The largest waterfalls of the gorge (near Tsangpo Badong, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: ) were visited in 1998, by a team consisting of Ken Storm, Hamid Sarder, Ian Baker and their Monpa guides. They estimated the height of the falls to be about 108 feet (33 m). The falls along with the rest of the Pemako area are sacred to Tibetan Buddhists who had concealed them from outsiders including the Chinese authorities. In 2005 Chinese National Geography
Chinese National Geography
Chinese National Geography is a Chinese monthly magazine similar to the National Geographic Magazine. Founded in 1949 in China, the magazine has revamped itself several times, and is now a popular magazine in mainland China...
named them China's most beautiful waterfalls. The gorges may have helped inspire the idea of Shangri-La
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains...
in James Hilton
James Hilton
James Hilton was an English novelist who wrote several best-sellers, including Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.-Biography:...
's book Lost Horizon
Lost Horizon (novel)
Lost Horizon is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamasery high in the mountains of Tibet.-Overview:...
in 1933.
There are two waterfalls in this section: Rainbow Falls (about 70 feet high) at 29.777164°N 95.183406°W, and Hidden Falls just downstream at 29.776023°N 95.181974°W(about 100 feet high).
Yarlung Tsangpo Hydroelectric and Water Diversion Project
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
has declared the establishment of a "Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon National Reservation", there have also been governmental plans and feasibility studies for a major dam to harness hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
and divert water to other areas in China. The size of the dam in the Tsongpo gorge would exceed that of Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China...
as it is anticipated that such a plant would generate 40,000 megawatts electricity, more than twice the output of Three Gorges. It is feared that there will be displacement of local populations, destruction of ecosystems, and an impact for downstream people in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. The project is criticized by India because of its potential negative impact upon the residents downstream.
However, another type of dam, the inflatable, is possible that would obviate any necessity for a huge concrete structure. R.B. Cathcart, in 1999, first suggested a fabric dam—inflatable with freshwater or air—could block the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon upstream of Namcha Barwa. Water would then be conveyed via a hardrock tunnel to a point downstream from that mountain, affording the generation of tens of thousands of megawatts—power which would have to be distributed internationally and equitably through a Himalayan power grid.
Defenders of the project state that currently most of the water flows into the Indian Ocean, and the project will only take away superfluous unused water resources from the rivers south of Tibet. Some even speculate that the project would positively affect places like Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
by reducing flooding.
Books
- Wick Walker (2000). Courting the Diamond Sow : A Whitewater Expedition on Tibet's Forbidden River. National Geographic. ISBN 0-7922-7960-3.
- Todd Balf (2001). The Last River : The Tragic Race for Shangri-la. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80801-X.
- Michael Mcrae (2002). The Siege of Shangri-La : The Quest for Tibet's Sacred Hidden Paradise. Broadway. ISBN 0-7679-0485-0. ISBN 978-0-7679-0485-8.
- Peter Heller (2004). Hell or High Water : Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River. Rodale Books. ISBN 1-57954-872-5.
- Ian Baker (2004). The Heart of the World : A journey to the last secret place. Souvenir Press. ISBN 0-285-63742-8.
- F.Kingdon Ward (Author), Kenneth Cox (Editor), Ken Storm Jr (Editor), Ian Baker (Editor) Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges: Retracing the Epic Journey of 1924–25 in South-East Tibet (Hardcover) Antique Collectors' Club Ltd (1 Jan 1999) ISBN 1-85149-371-9