Shigatse Travel Guide

Shigatse (officially: Xigazê; Wylie: gzhis ka rtse; Simplified Chinese: 日喀则; Traditional Chinese: 日喀則; Hanyu Pinyin: Rìkāzé) is a county-level city and the second largest city in Tibet with a population of 80,000. It is in Xigazê County in the Xigazê Prefecture, a region of Tibet.

It is located at the confluence of the Yarlong Tsangpo (Wylie: yar lung gtsang po) (or Brahmaputra) and Nyangchu (Wylie: nyang chu) rivers in west Tibet and was the ancient capital of U-Tsang province. It is also the name of the surrounding county.

It contains the huge Tashilhunpo Monastery, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama.

It is expected that the Qinghai-Tibet railway will be extended to Shigatse by 2010.

Climate: Summer is usually mild and wet, and brings most of the annual rainfall. Winter is cold, dry and windy.

Feature: There are wonderful monasteries comparable with those in Lhasa, like Tashilhunpo, Sakya and Shalu. The highlight of Shigatse is surprisingly high snow capped peaks. Most of the highest peaks in Tibet, including Mt. Everest, are around Shigatse, in Shigatse prefecture.

Restaurants: Restaurants can be found on Kesang Ke Lu, Zhufeng Lu, and Tsendu Lu.

Entertainment: At present there is little tourist entertainment in Shigatse. On Shandong Lu, there is an internet access where there are about 20 PCs.

Practical tips: This is your last chance to stock up some Chinese money before you reach Zhangmu. The Bank of China near Shigatse Hotel accepts travelers' cheques but does not accept credit cards. The post office handles international letters and faxes, but does not accept parcels. Shopping in the open market is an interesting experience for most people.

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