Gyantse

Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse; ; ), 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. The town 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 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. In 1904, after a brief siege, a treaty was concluded with the British. Under the treaty a British trade agent was stationed at Gyantse. A British military garrison, consisting mainly of Indian soldiers, was stationed there for the first half of the 20th century. It was referred to as a "small" outfit by Sir Walter Buchanan in 1919. Under the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama, it served as a military school to help train Tibetan officers. One Hank Baker, a radio operator posted in Tibet in World War II , is reported to have inspected "the Indian army garrison" "at Gyantse fort" in 1938. In 1940 the town was still garrisoned by British military. Gyantse 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.