Top Nyingchi Attractions and Activities
Thanks to its characteristic geographic location and changeful climate, lots of great attractions are shaped in Nyingchi. The most alluring is its amazing natural landscape, especially in the spring when the peach flowers are in full blossom and the meadow takes on new green appearance under the foot of the snow-capped mountains. The top attractions include:
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Basum-tso Lake
Type: Holy Lake & Natural Site
Altitude: 3,700 meters
Best time to visit: Summer & Autumn
Basum-tso, which means "green water" in Tibet, is known as a heaven on the Ridge of the world.It is a place interlaced with beauty, religion and attractive legends. As a holy lake of Nyingma sect, there are more scenic sites to tell its Buddhist culture.
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Lulang Forest
Type: Natural Park, Alpine Scenery
Altitude: 3,700 meters
Best time to visit: Summer & Autumn
Featuring stunning alpine scenery, Lulang Forest, a typical plateau mountain meadow feast your eyes with a wonderful landscape and idyllic scenery in Nyingchi County.mountain meadow feast your eyes with a wonderful landscape and idyllic scenery.
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Midui Glacier
Type: Natural Park, Alpine Scenery
Altitude: 2,400 meters
Best time to visit: Summer & Autumn
Midui Glacier is one of three most important marine glaciers and the lowest glacier in China. In the year 2005, Midui Glacier, known for its diverse forms and magnificent shapes of glaciers, was voted as one of “Six Most Beautiful Glaciers in China”.
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Namjagbarwa Peak
Type: Snow Peak, Holy Religious Site
Altitude: 7,782 meters
Best time to visit: Summer & Autumn
With its majestic appearance, precipitous shape and unpredictable climate, Namjagbarwa Peak has been an ambitious aim of mountain-climbing organizations. A lot of hot springs are at the foot of the peak with particularly luxuriant vegetations.
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Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon
Type: Nature, Canyon, River
Altitude: above 3,000 meters
Best time to visit: Summer & Autumn
It is considered as the most mysterious place in the “roof” above the Qinghai-Tiber Plateau. It records world's deepest, longest, highest and most dangerous one canyon reaching depths of 5,382 meters surpassing the once-believed deepest Grand Canyon.
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Nyingchi Peach Blossom Festival
Type: Nature, Event
Altitude: 2,900 meters
Best time to visit: Summer & Autumn
For the photographer or nature lovers, the best landscape in Nyingchi must be vast sea of peach blossoms in the spring. The Nyingchi Peach Blossom Festival is held in the Peach Blossom Village and other places with vast peach blossoms.
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How to Get to Nyingchi
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Two main transportations to Nyingchi are taking flights from major cities of China and by driving from Lhasa.
Flight to Nyingchi: Flight is the fastest transportation to take you to Nyingchi, and you can get to Nyingchi from different places within two hours. At present, Nyingchi Maining Airport provides flights to/from Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Xian and Lhasa. Chengdu is always regarded as the most popular city to Nyingchi in that it has more frequent flights with shorter flying duration. Moreover, Chengdu itself is a worth-visiting city famous for Giant Panda and slow life style.
Driving to Nyingchi: Although taking much longer time, about 8 hours, driving to Nyingchi from Lhasa is also chosen by many tourists. Traveling along 318 National Highway, you will get the fantastic landscape of Nyingchi in your eyes. Before arriving in Bayi Town, you can pay a visit to Basumtso Lake to appreciate its primitive beauty and tranquility. Read more>
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Best Time to Visit Nyingchi
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Due to the summer monsoon from Assam, Nyingchi has a complicate climate with great vertical changes, forming coexistent different climatic zone: subtropical climate, tropical climate, boreal climate, temperate climate, humid climate and semi-humid climate. The particular climate contributes to various kinds of plants growing in Nyingchi. Nyingchi enjoys a considerable annual rainfall, especially from June to September. The average temperature is about 8.7℃. The spring and winter are rather cold while summer and autumn are warm and humid. As a result, the best time to visit Nyingchi is summer and autumn. However, if you want to feast your eyes of the omnipresent peach flowers, visit Nyingchi during the Nyingchi Peach Blossom Festival which usually starts from late March and lasts for about two months. Read more>
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Where to Accommodate in Nyingchi
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Compare with some other Tibetan areas (like Shannan, Nagchu, Everest and Ngari), Nyingchi offers very good accommodation, ranging from five-star luxury hotels to economic comfortable guesthouses. Most of the good hotels in Nyingchi center on Bayi Town which is also the commercial and transportation center in Nyingchi. Some of them provide well-equipped facilities and good services to fully meet the needs of customers. Among the various hotels, Nyingchi Impression Hotel is a recommended four-star hotel. Apart from comfortable rooms and delicate restaurant, you can also enjoy the beautiful view of Nyang River and surrounding magnificent peaks. Read more>
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Useful Nyingchi Travel Notes
- 1. How to Plan Nyingchi Travel
With available daily flights and lower elevation, Nyingchi can be the first stop of your Tibet tour. It is popular to have a 7~8 days Nyingchi and Lhasa tour. After your arrival, you can spend two days on picturesque Lulang Forest, famous Midui Glacier, and mirror-like Rawu Lake Then drive to Lhasa and explore the majestic Potala Palace and sacred Buddhist sites before leaving from Lhasa. There are available flights leaving Lhasa for some major cities in China. It is also available to get to and travel in Lhasa first, and then extend your tour to Nyingchi. - 2. Packing and Wearing
What you can’t forget is to bring your passport, Chinese Visa and all needed permits, without them you are unable to have a Tibet tour. Then it is recommended to pack your stuffs in two bags – a bigger backpack and a smaller carryon bag. It is also important to bring the necessary medicine and sunscreens.Because of the special geography and climate, you wear properly to keep warm. - 3. High Altitude Sickness Tips
The average altitude of Nyingchi is only about 3,000m, really low compared with some other regions in Tibet. There is no need to worry too much about High Altitude Sickness. However, if you drive from Nyingchi to Lhasa, you need to pass Mila Pass with a high altitude of 5,013m. It will be helpful to take some precautionary measures, like drinking more hot water, always keeping warm, avoiding strong activities, eating fresh vegetables and fruits etc. Your tour operator will also prepare oxygen supply for emergency use. - 4. Necessary Permits for Visiting Nyingchi
Tibet Travel Permit is a must to travel in Tibet, and you can’t board your flight or trains to Tibet without it. It is issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau only and can be applied by travel agencies on behalf of you only. It must be obtained before you getting to Tibet, because you are not permitted to board your flight or train without it. Besides, Aliens’ Travel Permit is necessary to any places out of Lhasa. It is applied after you entering Tibet. Your tour guide will apply it with your Tibet Travel Permit and passport. Because Nyingchi is the boundary city in Tibet, so you need a Border Permit as well.