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Songpan County 松潘县 ·ཟུང་ཆུ་རྫོང་། · Ssez Sungqu
County
Terrace inHuanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area
Location of Songpan County (red) within Ngawa Prefecture (yellow) and Sichuan
Songpan Location of the seat in Sichuan Show map of Sichuan Songpan Songpan (China) Show map of China
Coordinates:32°39′N103°36′E / 32.650°N 103.600°E /32.650; 103.600
Country	China
Province	Sichuan
Autonomous prefecture	Ngawa
County seat	Jin'an
Area
• Total	8,486 km2 (3,276 sq mi)
Elevation	2,867 m (9,406 ft)
Population  (2020)[1]
• Total	66,937
• Density	7.9/km2 (20/sq mi)
• Majornationalities	TibetanHanQiangHui
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code	623300
Area code	0837
Website	www.songpan.gov.cn

Songpan County, formerlySongzhou, is a county in northwesternSichuan province, China, and is one of the 13 counties administered by theNgawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. It has an area of 8,486 square kilometres (3,276 sq mi), and a population of approximately 68,000 composed ofTibetan,Qiang,Han andHui populations.

The ancient city of Songpan was built during theTang dynasty and it was later rebuilt duringMing dynasty. Songpan was an important military post. It was also an important economic and trading center for horse and tea exchange betweenSichuan,Gansu,Qinghai andTibet.

During Tang rule, it was the border with theTibetan Empire. EmperorSongtsen Gampo of Tibet tried to invade Tang China through this gate.Emperor Taizong of Tang offered himPrincess Wencheng at Songzhou (now Songpan) in 641. According to Tibetan and Chinese legends, Princess Wencheng then brings with her among other things theJowo statue to the Tibetan Empire. Throughout the Ming dynasty, the Chinese court was troubled by the frequent invasion of the Songpan area.^[2] The area was given to a Tibetan lama friendly with the Chinese court to maintain frontier control while leaving it in local hands.

In August 1935, led byMao Zedong andZhou Enlai, the retreatingPeople's Liberation Army marched through theSongpan Grasslands to advance to the northwestern province.

While Songpan can be a charming city in its own right, the countryside surrounding the city offers a variety of tourist attractions. The hills surrounding the city are visual delights of Tibetan cattle herders leading their livestock over rolling grasses, endless valleys, and generally beautiful landscape. All of this can be seen through affordable horseback riding outlets on the outskirts of the city.

Songpan covers latitudes 32° 06′−33° 09′ N and longitudes 102° 38′−104° 15′ E, and has a total area of 8,608 square kilometres (3,324 sq mi). Neighbouring counties arePingwu to the east,Beichuan to the southeast,Mao to the south,Hongyuan andHeishui to the southwest, andJiuzhaigou andZoigê to the north.

Due to its altitude, Songpan has ahumid continental climate (KöppenDwb), with cool winters and warm, rainy summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −3.4 °C (25.9 °F) in January to 14.8 °C (58.6 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 6.28 °C (43.3 °F). The high elevation also results in a largediurnal temperature variation, exceeding 17 °C (31 °F) in winter. More than 70% of the 708 mm (27.9 in) of annual precipitation occurs from May to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 31% in September to 57% in December, the county seat receives 1,831 hours of bright sunshine annually.

The economy of Songpan is dominated byagriculture andlivestock raising. In recent years,tourism has become an increasingly important sector, and is actively promoted by the authorities. Additionally, Songpan is popular among foreign students and other Chinese language learners staying in China as the base for treks through the scenic mountains nearby. Apart from the scenic attraction ofHuanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area which is located in the county, Songpan with its strategic location also acts as the gateway toJiuzhaigou Valley at the north.

Songpan County has 7towns, 9townships, oneethnic township, and one othertownship-level division.

• China National Highway 213
• Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport

• Jiandi Dao
• 1976 Songpan-Pingwu earthquake

• 
  Street peddlers in Songpan, 2002
• 
  Street peddlers in Songpan, 2002
• 
  Songpan Bridge

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• Government Website
• Additional Songpan tourist information
• Songpan travel information

• Songpan County
• County-level divisions of Sichuan
• Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

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