Gyantse

Gyantse
Gyangzê
Tibetan transcription(s)
• Tibetan	རྒྱལ་རྩེ་
• Wylie transliteration	rgyal rtse
Chinese transcription(s)
• Traditional	江孜鎮
• Simplified	江孜镇
• Pinyin	Jīang Zǐ Zhèn
A view of Gyantse from the top of its fortress
Gyantse
Coordinates: 28°57′N 89°38′E / 28.950°N 89.633°E / 28.950; 89.633
Country	China
Province	Tibet Autonomous Region
Prefecture	Shigatse Prefecture
County	Gyantse County
Population (2003)
• Total	60,000
Time zone	CST (UTC+8)

Gyantse Town officially, Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse; Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རྩེ་, Wylie: rgyal rtse, ZYPY: Gyangzê; Chinese: 江孜镇; pinyin: Jīangzǐzhèn) is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region (after Lhasa, and Shigatse), but there are now at least ten larger Tibetan cities.

The town is strategically located in the Nyang Chu valley on the ancient trade routes from the Chumbi Valley, Yatung and Sikkim, which met here. From Gyantse, routes led to Shigatse downstream and also over the Karo La (Pass) to Central Tibet. The fortress (constructed in 1390) guarded the southern approaches to the Yarlung Tsangpo Valley and Lhasa. The town was surrounded by a wall 3 km long.

In 1952, Gyantse had a population of perhaps 8,000 people, about the same as in 2008. It is 3,977 meters (13,050 ft) above sea level, and is located 254 km southwest of Lhasa in the fertile plain of the Nyang river valley and on a side branch of the Friendship Highway, which connects Kathmandu, Nepal to Lhasa. Gyantse was the third largest city in Tibet before being overtaken by Qamdo.