Yangpachen hot spring

Yangpachen, rich in terrestrial heat, borders on a flat area of Steamy hot springs with an area of 16 square kilometers ( six square miles). Here you can not only see common hot springs but fountains, but also various geysers, boiling springs, and hot-water lakes, which are rare even in the world. At present, series of geothermal electric station, green houses, and hot spring baths, attract tourists both from domestic and abroad.

Established in 1977, the geothermal power plant is the first and largest geothermal power station in China and provides a large proportion of the electricity demand in Lhasa. Terrestrial heat here provides energy for two new geothermal electricity generating stations as well as warmth and humidity for a huge geodesic greenhouse which produce unseasonal vegetables. Unperturbed by the racket of gushing steam and modern technology, the nomads are in the vicinity and yaks are grazing right up to the wire fence.

The road stretching northeast from Yangpachen through a long, straight, upland valley is usually dotted with nomad canvas and herds of yaks. The nomads who roam over vast areas of northern Tibet accounts for abut a quarter of the population. They produce the wool which has been Tibet's chief export for centuries and provide this area with meat and dairy products. It is hard to known the exact number of them, for nomads , especially in eastern Tibet, always live a half-settled life. One tribe with the same name and same chief may be scattered into two entirely different occupations, sharing and exchanging roles as farmers and shepherds. Some nomads will return to their winter home for a few months a year while others barely know what it is in their entire life.Though nomads are big, tough people, they are handsome, cheerful and independent. At sacred places throughout Tibet they stand out in their sheepskin chubas (long coats) as the most ardent and joyous of pilgrims. They value  honesty a lot and can practice rough justice. It is said that nomads always return both kindness and bad turn twofold.