Namco Township
Namco | |
|---|---|
Township | |
| Tibetan transcription(s) | |
| • Tibetan | གནམ་མཚོ། |
| • Wylie transliteration | gnam mtsho |
| Chinese transcription(s) | |
| • Traditional | 纳木错乡 |
| • Pinyin | Nàmùcuò Xiāng |
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  Namco Location within Tibet | |
| Coordinates: 30°55′N 91°07′E / 30.917°N 91.117°E | |
| Country | China |
| Province | Tibet Autonomous Region |
| Prefecture | Lhasa Prefecture |
| County | Damxung County |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (CST) |
Nam Co, also known as Namco or Namucuo, is a village and township in Damxung County in the Lhasa Prefecture of Tibet.[1][2] Known for its scenic vistas around Nam Co Lake, it has an extremely high altitude of 4,700 metres (15,400 ft) to 4,800 metres (15,700 ft) above sea level.[3][4][1]
Population
[edit]As of 2009, the local population was about 1,000.[5] The population density in Nam Co is very low.[6][5]
The largest town in the vicinity is Damxung, which is approximately 50 km (31 mi) away.[5]
Economy
[edit]The traditional source of income in Nam Co is animal husbandry – specifically, herding sheep and yaks.[5] In recent years, the local economy has benefited from increased tourism.[1]
Tourism to Nam Co grew in the 1990s and increased significantly starting in 2006, when the Qinghai–Tibet railway became operational.[7] Most tourism is concentrated around Zaxi Island.[6] Annual visitors to Zaxi Island increased from 35,000 in 2006 to 791,000 in 2015.[6]
Most herdsmen in Nam Co supplement their family income by selling specialty products such as yogurt and highland mushrooms.[7][1]
Lifestyle
[edit]Most villagers have a nomadic lifestyle and many live in traditional Tibetan tents made of yak hair.[3] Herdsmen live by the water, migrating with their flocks of yak and sheep between the south shore of Namtso lake in the summer and the lower northern pastures in the winter.[2] The primary fuel source in Nam Co is yak dung.[3]
The winter grasslands now offer access to masonry buildings with electricity and wells.[2] Residents participating in the tourism industry have established fixed or semi-fixed households.[3]
Local government
[edit]To combat water pollution caused by increased tourist traffic to Zaxi Island, the local government has installed garbage bins, increased cleaning staff, deployed garbage trucks, and built sewage tratment plants.[6]
Gallery
[edit]
Traditional tent (2005)
2009
Woman with sheep (2009)
Tourists in 2013
2019
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References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "西藏当雄：税务赋能纳木错"冰雪经济"". China Tibet Network (in Chinese). December 5, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "藏北纪行：高原冬季牧歌". www.news.cn (in Chinese). November 13, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Dang, Jin; Chaoliu Li; Jihua Li; Andy Dang; Qianggong Zhang; Pengfei Chen; Shichang Kang; Derek Dunn-Rankin (2019). "Emissions from Solid Fuel Cook Stoves in the Himalayan Region". Energies. 12 (6): 1089. doi:10.3390/en12061089.
- ↑ Ze, Bi; Chen, Jieyi; Zhao, Rong; Zeng, Yan; Cidan, Wangjiu; et al. (February 28, 2026). "Exploratory analysis of high-altitude effects on brain morphology and myelination in native Tibetan infants". Translational Pediatrics. 15 (2): 31. doi:10.21037/tp-2025-aw-778. ISSN 2224-4344. PMID 41810176.
- 1 2 3 4 Kang, Shichang; Pengfei Chen; Chaoliu Li; Bin Liu; Zhiyuan Cong (March 2016). "Atmospheric Aerosol Elements over the Inland Tibetan Plateau: Concentration, Seasonality, and Transport" (PDF). Aerosol and Air Quality Research. 16 (3): 789–800. Bibcode:2016AAQR...16..789K. doi:10.4209/aaqr.2015.05.0307.
- 1 2 3 4 Zhang, Zhengxian; et al. (February 20, 2022). "Lake ecosystem health assessment using a novel hybrid decision-making framework in the Nam Co, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau". Science of the Total Environment. 808 152087. Bibcode:2022ScTEn.80852087Z. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152087. PMID 34856268.
- 1 2 Da Qiong; Dpal Idan Nyima; Li Yao (November 7, 2012). "Tourists flock to region's popular Sheep Hotel". China Daily. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
