Litang County


Litang or Lithang County is in southwest of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China. In 2001, it had a population of 47,500.
Before the Battle of Chamdo, Lithang was part of Kham, Tibet, and several famous Buddhist figures were born here, including the 7th Dalai Lama, the 10th Dalai Lama, the 11th Tai Situpa, four of the Pabalas, as well as the 5th Jamyang Zhépa of Labrang Monastery. Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama, returned here and built two monasteries, Kampo Nénang Monastery next to the Genyen Massif, where he trained the important Kagyu teacher, Drogön Rechen who recognised his tulku, and the Pangphuk Monastery, founded in 1169.
It also has strong connections with the eponymous hero of the Epic of King Gesar.

Modern history

During the 1950s, the region around Litang was one of the many areas of Tibetan armed resistance to the presence of the People's Liberation Army. A resistance group called the Chushi Gangdruk was active in the area.
In 1956 the monastery in Litang was bombed by the PLA. The October 5, 1956 edition of the Tibet Mirror newspaper printed a witness' drawing of this bombing of the Litang monastery, Jamchen Chokhor Ling and others by aircraft of the People's Liberation Army. The photo's caption in its original English is:
"They are killing several thousand of our freedom-loving, brave, ill-armed Khampas, with modern weapons; and distroying monasterees . The world is protesting the aggressor in Europe and W. Asia, but alas! There is no voice for Tibet."
Litang Town itself is located at an altitude of 4,014 metres. It is on open grassland and surrounded by snow-capped mountains and is about 400 meters higher than Lhasa, making it one of the highest towns in the world.
In August, 2007, the Litang Horse Festival was the scene of an impromptu anti-government political speech by Runggye Adak, which was followed by protests calling for his release. A crackdown officially described as "patriotic education campaign" followed in autumn of 2007, including several politically motivated arrests and attempts to force local Tibetans to denounce the 14th Dalai Lama.
to Litang

Administrative divisions

Litang County administers one town and 23 more rural townships:
With an elevation of nearly, Litang has an alpine subarctic climate, with long, cold, dry winters, and short, cool summers with very frequent rain. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to only in July; the annual mean is. Over 80% of the of annual precipitation is delivered from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 38% in July to 83% in December, the county seat receives 2,643 hours of bright sunshine annually, with winter by far the sunniest season.

Transport