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21-644: Around 90 km (56 mi) to the west of the lake lies the Tibetan town of Gyantse and Lhasa is 100 km (62 mi) to the northeast. According to local mythology , Yamdok Yumtso lake is the transformation of a goddess. The Yamdrok Hydropower Station was completed and dedicated in 1996 near the small village of Baidi at the lake's western end. This power station is the largest in Tibet. The lake (638 km (246 sq mi) in area, 30 metres (98 ft) average depth and 60 metres (200 ft) at its deepest)

42-507: 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 . Gyantse

63-458: A strong Nepali influence, which have survived almost entirely intact. They are the last of its kind to be found in Tibet. Many of the restored clay statues are of less artistry than the destroyed originals - but they are still spectacular. The town was nearly destroyed by flooding in 1954. After rioting in 1959, local industries were dismantled and artisans fled while others were placed in workcamps. Some 400 monks and laypeople were imprisoned in

84-581: 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. In 1904, the British expedition to Tibet reached Gyantse on 11 April. The town's garrison had already fled, and the expedition's members entered

105-505: Is fan-shaped, spreading to the south but narrowing up to the north. The mountainous lakeshore is highly crenellated, with numerous bays and inlets. Lake Yamdrok freezes in winter. Yamdrok Lake has a cold steppe climate ( BSk ) with long, cold, very dry winters and short, cool, wet summers. It is also bordering on an alpine tundra climate ( ET ) and on a subarctic climate ( Dwc ). The differences between day and night are great. Like mountains, lakes are considered sacred by Tibetan people,

126-530: Is notable for its restored Gyantse Dzong or fort, and its magnificent tiered Kumbum (literally: '100,000 images') of the Palcho Monastery , the largest chörten in Tibet. The Kumbum was commissioned by a Gyantse prince in 1427 and was an important centre of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. This religious structure contains 77 chapels in its six floors, and is illustrated with over 10,000 murals, many showing

147-449: Is on a peninsula jutting into the lake. This monastery is the only Tibetan monastery to be headed by a female re-incarnation. Since it is not a nunnery, its abbess heads a community of about thirty monks and nuns. Samding Monastery is where Samding Dorje Phagmo , the most important female incarnate Lama in Tibet, stayed and presided, and stands to the south of Lake Yamdrok Yumtso. Today, both pilgrims and tourists can be seen walking along

168-462: Is revered as a talisman and is said to be part of the life-spirit of Tibet. The largest lake in southern Tibet, it is said that if its waters dry, Tibet will no longer be habitable. The lake, its islands, and the surrounding area are closely associated with Padmasambhava , the Second Buddha, who brought Buddhism to Tibet in eighth century AD. The lake is home to the famous Samding Monastery which

189-648: 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 Kora 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

210-582: The Chumbi Valley and visited the British garrison at Gyantse, describing it as "small" and noting that it consisted primarily of Indian troops . During the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama , a military academy was established by the British in Gyantse to train Tibetan Army officers. During World War II , the British continued to maintain a garrison in Gyantse, though it was eventually disbanded by 1947. The town

231-472: The state narrative on the 1904 British expedition. The sculpture that forms the centerpiece of the museum are two "Tibetan" warriors, but they were based on photos taken by Lt. G. J. Davys in Chumbi Valley of non-Tibetans doing fake battles, and the armor were worn backwards. Gyantse has an elevation-influenced humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification : Dwb ). Herbert James Walton Herbert Walton (19 January 1869 – 4 May 1938)

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252-691: The North West Frontier in 1897-98, and in China in 1900 during the Relief of Peking . In 1903-4, Walton was appointed a member of the Tibet Frontier Commission , acting as both medical officer and naturalist to the British Expedition to Tibet . The mission temporarily established its headquarters at Changlo Manor, just outside Gyantse , where Walton took it upon himself to attend to the needs of

273-862: The Salop Infirmary, Shrewsbury. He graduated with honours at the M.B. examination at the University of London , and later won the gold medal at the M.D. He went on to join the Netley Hospital before passing first into the Indian Medical Service . He was gazetted lieutenant on 29 July 1896, winning both the Montefiore Prize for military surgery, and the Martin Memorial Medal for military medicine. Choosing to serve in Bengal , Walton served on

294-584: The army until May 1905, when he was appointed civil surgeon to the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh ). He briefly held the post of Chair of Pathology at King George's Medical College , Lucknow , before reverting to military service in 1915. Walton retired in 1919, returning to England and settling in Godalming , where he died in 1938. He never married. Artemisia waltoni J. R. Drumm. ex Pampanini , discovered and collected by Walton at Gyangtse on

315-494: The common problem of cleft palates . The expedition's officers spent time exploring the town and carrying out fishing or hunting trips in the surrounding countryside. Eventually, the expedition concluded a treaty with the Tibetan authorities, which stipulated that a British trade agent and garrison would be stationed at Gyantse. In 1919, Sir Walter Buchanan, a member of the Royal Geographical Society , travelled into

336-737: The lake's perimeter. One of the lake's islands contains an old fort or castle called Pede Dzong. There are shoals of fish living in Yamdrok Lake, which are commercially exploited by local population. From April to October, fish caught from this lake are sold at markets in Lhasa , Tibet's capital. Additionally, the lake's islands serve as rich pasture land to local herdsmen. Gyantse Gyantse , officially Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse ; Tibetan : རྒྱལ་རྩེ , Wylie : rgyal rtse , ZYPY : Gyangzê ; simplified Chinese : 江孜镇 ; traditional Chinese : 江孜鎮 ; pinyin : Jiāngzī Zhèn ),

357-448: The local populace, notably performing operations to correct cleft palates, a particularly common affliction in Tibet. Walton's copious notes on the flora and fauna of Tibet are compiled in Landon's The Opening of Tibet ; he also discovered and collected the rare Buddleja tibetica . Walton was promoted captain in 1899, major 1908, and finally lieutenant-colonel in 1916. He served with

378-677: The monastery. During the Cultural Revolution , the fort, the monastery and Kumbum were ransacked. Precious objects were destroyed or sent out of Tibet. The chorten was spared. The main building of the Pelkor Chode or Palcho Monastery and the Kumbum have been largely restored but the dzong or fort is still largely in ruins. During the 20th century, the Chinese government established the "Anti-British Imperialism Museum" in Gyantse, which exhibits

399-522: The principle being that they are the dwelling places of protective deities and therefore invested with special spiritual powers. Yamdrok Lake is one of four particularly holy lakes, thought to be divinatory; everyone from the Dalai Lama to local villagers makes pilgrimages there. It is considered sacred as one of the four "Great Wrathful Lakes" guarded by the goddess Dorje Gegkyi Tso. The others such lakes are Lhamo La-tso , Namtso and Manasarovar . The lake

420-450: The town bloodlessly through the front gates, which were opened for them, and occupied Gyantse. After the town was occupied, several British officers visited the Palcho Monastery and seized several statues and scrolls. During the occupation, the town's inhabitants continued to go about their business, and the expedition's medical officer, Herbert James Walton , attended to their medical needs, including performing several operations to correct

441-625: Was an English surgeon and naturalist . Born in London on 19 January 1869, he was the second child and elder son of James Sydney Walton and Eleanor Georgina Louissan, his wife. Walton was initially educated in Paris, before entering private schools in England, culminating in Charterhouse (1881–84); he went on to study medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital . Walton's first post was as assistant house surgeon at

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