Nyingchi Prefecture

Nyingchi 林芝市 • ཉིང་ཁྲི་གྲོང་ཁྱེར།
Prefecture-level city
The urban center Bayi Town in Bayi District
prefecture (orange) in Tibet (light-orange)
Country	China
Province	Tibet
city seat	Bayi District (Bayi Town)
Area
• Total	116,175 km2 (44,855 sq mi)
Population
• Total	195,109
• Density	1.7/km2 (4.3/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)

Nyingchi also known as Linzhi is a prefecture-level city in southeast of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The administrative seat of Nyingchi is Bayi District. The Chinese claim part of Arunachal Pradesh, which is one of the states of India, as part of the prefecture. (See South Tibet dispute.)

Nyingchi is the location of Buchu Monastery.

The prefecture-level city contains the Namcha Barwa Peak, and the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, located in Mêdog County, which attracts significant tourism and geoscientific and biological study to the area.

Approximately 90 kilometers west of Gongbo'gyamda County, is the alpine Basum Lake in the upper catchment area of the Ba River, the largest tributary of the Nyang River lying on average about 3,538 metres (11,608 ft) above sea level. The lake surface is on average about 3,538 meters above sea level. Covering an area of 25.9 km² (10.0 sq mi), the surrounding is populated by a diverse wildlife including leopards, bears, goats, musk deer and Tibetan snow lions. In 1997, the Basum Lake was listed by the World Tourism Organization as a top tourist attraction. The lake also contains an inlet with a Gelug monastery. East of Nyingchi County, is the Seche La Mountain, a mountain of the Nyainqentanglha Mountain Range, which forms part of the watershed of the Nyang River and the Polung Zangbo River. Benri La Mountain near the small town of Dagze is a known sacred site of the Tibetan Bon Sect. Considered by Tibetans as one of the four great holy mountains in Tibet, on every tenth day of the eighth month of the Tibetan calendar, a day of intense worshipping called "Nangbolhasoi," is performed (meaning "seeking for treasures from immortals.")