Zhanang County 扎囊县 •གྲ་ནང་རྫོང་། Dranang, Chanang | |
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.jpg) Zhanang County | |
  Zhanang County Location in Tibet Show map of Tibet Zhanang County Zhanang County (China) Show map of China | |
| Coordinates:29°27′54″N91°36′40″E / 29.46500°N 91.61111°E /29.46500; 91.61111 | |
| Country | China |
| Autonomous region | Tibet |
| Prefecture-level city | Shannan (Lhokha) |
| County seat | Dratang |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,141.92 km2 (827.00 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 36,656 |
| • Density | 17/km2 (44/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Website | www |
| Zhanang County | |||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 扎囊县 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 扎囊縣 | ||||||
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| Tibetan name | |||||||
| Tibetan | གྲ་ནང་རྫོང་། | ||||||
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Zhanang County orDranang (Tibetan:གྲ་ནང་རྫོང,Chinese:扎囊县) is a county ofShannan (Lhokha) in theTibet Autonomous Region, China. The capital town of county is Dratang town, with a monastery namedDratang.[2]
Dranang County is home toSamye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, and many other monasteries, includingMindrolling Monastery.
Dranang County is separated into northern and southern parts by theYarlung Tsangpo River. In 2015, a bridge near Dratang Town was finished, connecting the northern and southern parts of the county.[3]
Historically a strategic hub since theTibetan Empire (7th–9th centuries CE), it served as a cultural and administrative center under the patronage of theNyingma school ofTibetan Buddhism. The county's name, Dranang, meaning "thorn grove" in Tibetan,[4] reflects its early settlement patterns in the arid valleys.[5]
Zhanang was established as a county in April 1960 following Tibet's democratic reforms, initially under the Lhoka Special Administrative Region. Its boundaries were formalized in 1987, encompassing 5 townships and 3 towns by 2015.[6] A major restructuring in 2021 merged rural townships into urban units, reducing divisions to 3 towns and 2 townships. The county's 2,173 km² area blends agricultural plains with rugged mountains, sustainingbarley farming and traditional crafts like Tibetan incense production.[7]
Dranang County contains 2towns and 3townships.
| Name | Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Tibetan | Wylie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towns | ||||
| Dratang Town | 扎塘镇 | Zhātáng zhèn | གྲ་ཐང་གྲོང་རྡལ། | grang thang grong rdal |
| Samye Town | 桑耶镇 | Sāngyē zhèn | བསམ་ཡས་གྲོང་རྡལ། | bsam yas grong rdal |
| Townships | ||||
| Drachi Township | 扎其乡 | Zhāqí xiāng | གྲ་ཕྱི་ཤང་། | gra phyi shang |
| Ngadra Township | 阿扎乡 | Āzhā xiāng | ལྔ་གྲ་ཤང་། | lnga gra shang |
| Gyiru Township | 吉汝乡 | Jírǔ xiāng | དཀྱིལ་རུ་ཤང་། | dkyil ru shang |
| Climate data for Dranang (1981−2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.7 (47.7) | 10.7 (51.3) | 14.2 (57.6) | 17.3 (63.1) | 20.9 (69.6) | 24.1 (75.4) | 23.2 (73.8) | 22.0 (71.6) | 20.6 (69.1) | 17.9 (64.2) | 13.1 (55.6) | 9.2 (48.6) | 16.8 (62.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.6 (30.9) | 2.4 (36.3) | 6.4 (43.5) | 9.5 (49.1) | 13.3 (55.9) | 16.7 (62.1) | 16.4 (61.5) | 15.7 (60.3) | 13.9 (57.0) | 9.6 (49.3) | 3.2 (37.8) | −0.7 (30.7) | 8.8 (47.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −8.2 (17.2) | −5.4 (22.3) | −1.4 (29.5) | 2.3 (36.1) | 6.3 (43.3) | 10.4 (50.7) | 11.3 (52.3) | 11.0 (51.8) | 9.0 (48.2) | 3.4 (38.1) | −4.2 (24.4) | −7.9 (17.8) | 2.2 (36.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 0.4 (0.02) | 0.3 (0.01) | 1.6 (0.06) | 6.9 (0.27) | 20.3 (0.80) | 49.6 (1.95) | 119.4 (4.70) | 122.5 (4.82) | 66.4 (2.61) | 8.8 (0.35) | 0.4 (0.02) | 0.5 (0.02) | 397.1 (15.63) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 35 | 29 | 30 | 38 | 44 | 51 | 63 | 67 | 64 | 51 | 43 | 43 | 47 |
| Source: Weather China[8] | |||||||||||||
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