Yangpachen

The area is famous for the Yangpachen hot springs, which have been harnessed to produce much of the electricity for the capital Lhasa. It was said that long time ago, before the sky and the earth was separated, the whole world was in total darkness. People living at the foot of Mt. Nyainqentanglha were suffering. One day, a golden phoenix flied to the area, determined to create brightness by sacrificing itself. It threw one of its bright eyes onto the ground. A fairy caught the eye, and then a bright lamp arose in the air. Snow capped peaks of Mt. Nyainqentanglha appeared; grassland like huge carpet emerged; happiness came into Tibetan people. However, a greedy man near Yangpachen coveted the lamp. He took a witch man's idea to sharpen his hatred into an arrow to shoot the lamp. The lamp was broken then, the pieces of the lamp dropped onto the ground, turning into hot springs and burned the man to his end. People said that the hot springs were the fairy's tears.

 

There is a thermoelectric power plant on the edge of the Yangpachen hot springs field covering 20–30 square kilometers. The thermoelectric power plant was established in 1976, and the first development of geothermal power in the whole of China.

Recommended Tibet Tour: 6 Days Lhasa and Nagqu Experience
(Attractions: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street, Sera Monastery, Tibet Museum, Namtso Lake, North Tibet Grassland, Yangpachen)