Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (玉树藏族自治区)

1. Introduction

Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Tibetan: ཡུལ་ཤུལ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ།, Wylie: yul shul bod-rigs rang-skyong-khul, Tibetan Pinyin: Yüxü Poirig Ranggyong Kü), abbreviated as Yushu Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture under the jurisdiction of Qinghai Province, People's Republic of China, located in the southwestern part of Qinghai Province. The prefecture borders Haixi Prefecture to the north, Golog Prefecture to the northeast, Ganzi Prefecture of Sichuan Province to the east, Qamdo City of the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south, reaches Nagqu City of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Tanggula Mountain Town administered by Golmud City of Haixi Prefecture to the west, and neighbors Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the northwest. Situated in the central part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Tanggula Mountains stretch across its southern part, the Hoh Xil Mountains stand in the west, the Kunlun Mountains lie across the north, and the Bayan Har Mountains run through the east. The Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Lancang River all originate within its territory, known as the Three-River-Source Region. Numerous rivers flow through the area, including the Tongtian River, Chumar River, Dangqu, Zaqu, and Ziqu. The total area of the prefecture is 204,887 square kilometers, with a permanent resident population of approximately 430,000, of which Tibetans account for 97%. The prefectural capital is located in Gyêgu Town, Yushu City.

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2. History

In ancient times, it was part of the Sunpo region of the Tubo Kingdom. During the Yuan Dynasty, it came under the jurisdiction of the Tubo and Other Routes Pacification Commissioner's Office. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Mongolian Khoshut tribe entered Qinghai, gaining control over the Tibetan tribal leaders in Yushu and granting them titles as various Taijis. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was directly administered by the Xining Minister. During the Republic of China period, three counties—Yushu, Nangqian, and Chindu—were established, while the traditional system of thousand-household and hundred-household units remained unchanged.

In 1914, the Beiyang Government dispatched a team led by Zhou Wuxue, with Zhou Xiwu and Niu Zaikun as special commissioners, to the town of Jiegu in Yushu to survey the Gansu-Sichuan border. Zhou Xiwu spent nine months investigating the Yushu region and authored The Survey of Yushu Chieftains. In 1916, based on the findings of Zhou Wuxue's team, the Beiyang Government placed Yushu under the jurisdiction of Qinghai.

In October 1949, the Office of the Special Commissioner of the Qinghai Provincial Military and Administrative Committee of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was established in Yushu, formally taking over military and administrative authority. It governed the three counties of Yushu, Chindu, and Nangqian, with its office located in Jiegu, Yushu County. In June 1950, the Office of the Special Commissioner was abolished, and the Yushu District People's Administrative Supervision Commissioner's Office of Qinghai Province was established.

In January 1951, the Yushu District People's Administrative Supervision Commissioner's Office was renamed the Yushu Special District Commissioner's Office.

In July 1951, the Preparatory Committee for the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Region was established. On December 25, 1951, the First Session of the People's Congress of All Ethnic Groups and Sectors of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Region was held. The congress resolved to abolish the Yushu Special District and establish the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Region (at the prefectural level). The autonomous region governed the two counties of Chindu and Nangqian, while the area of Yushu County was directly administered by the autonomous region.

In June 1955, the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Region was renamed the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, governing six counties: Yushu (without a county-level administrative body), Chindu, Nangqian, Zhidoi, Zadoi, and Qumarleb.

In 2021, Yushu celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the autonomous prefecture. The local government organized a variety of cultural and sports activities, including horse racing events, the "Dashing Khampa People" public parade, a special performance titled "Source of the Three Rivers, Sacred Yushu," folk sports competitions, the King Gesar Cup Walking Horse Race, and traditional dance shows.

3. Geography

Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture borders Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to the north, connects with Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to the east, adjoins Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province to the southeast, borders Qamdo and Nagqu of the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south and southwest, and touches Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at its northwestern corner. The prefecture covers a total area of 267,000 square kilometers. It is flanked by the Kunlun Mountains and Bayan Har Mountains to the north, the Tanggula Mountains to the south, the high mountains and deep valleys of western Sichuan to the east, and the northern Tibetan Plateau to the west. It serves as the source of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Lancang River. The terrain is high in the north and south, low in the middle, and higher in the west than in the east. Periglacial landforms account for over 70% of the total area, with intense freeze-thaw processes. The central-western and northern regions are dominated by low hills, broad valleys, lake basins, and floodplains; the areas east and south of the center feature plateau mountains and high mountain gorge landscapes. The average elevation across the prefecture exceeds 4,200 meters, with the highest peak, Bukadaban Peak, reaching 6,860 meters, and the lowest point at the Jinsha River at 3,335 meters. Most areas lie between 4,000 and 5,000 meters above sea level. The prefecture is rich in rivers, with endorheic rivers mainly distributed in the northwest, forming centripetal drainage systems—these rivers are short and flow into inland lakes. The exorheic rivers belong to the three major systems of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang Rivers, with a total exorheic drainage area of 237,960.7 square kilometers. There are 287 saltwater and freshwater lakes in the prefecture, covering a water surface area of 3,531.34 square kilometers.

Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture features towering terrain, complex topography, variable climate, and harsh environmental conditions, characterized by a typical frigid plateau climate. Located in the mid-latitude region, its elevation reaches one-third of the troposphere, significantly influencing atmospheric circulation and creating unique climatic conditions. Yushu is a long-daylight area with strong solar radiation, abundant sunshine hours, and rich light energy. The annual sunshine hours are relatively low in areas east of Chindu, Yushu, and Xialaxiu, below 2,500 hours; in the central region, except for Zadoi, which has less than 2,500 hours, other areas range between 2,500 and 2,700 hours; areas west of Moyun and Zahe, and north of Sewu Valley and Maduo, exceed 2,700 hours.

Meteorological Data for Yushu City at 3,717 meters elevation (1981–2010)

| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |-----------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|---------|---------|---------| | Record high °C (°F) | 17.6 (63.7) | 15.6 (60.1) | 23.9 (75.0) | 26.1 (79.0) | 34.1 (93.4) | 35.7 (96.3) | 36.8 (98.2) | 34.4 (93.9) | 33.7 (92.7) | 25.2 (77.4) | 18.5 (65.3) | 15.0 (59.0) | 36.8 (98.2) | | Average high °C (°F) | 9.5 (49.1) | 11.0 (51.8) | 15.4 (59.7) | 18.9 (66.0) | 22.5 (72.5) | 25.0 (77.0) | 25.8 (78.4) | 25.7 (78.3) | 23.7 (74.7) | 19.9 (67.8) | 12.6 (54.7) | 9.9 (49.8) | 26.9 (80.4) | | Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) | 4.8 (40.6) | 8.8 (47.8) | 12.5 (54.5) | 16.0 (60.8) | 18.7 (65.7) | 20.7 (69.3) | 20.4 (68.7) | 17.7 (63.9) | 12.6 (54.7) | 7.3 (45.1) | 3.6 (38.5) | 12.2 (53.9) | | Daily mean °C (°F) | -6.8 (19.8) | -3.9 (25.0) | 0.5 (32.9) | 4.3 (39.7) | 8.2 (46.8) | 11.5 (52.7) | 13.3 (55.9) | 12.5 (54.5) | 9.6 (49.3) | 4.2 (39.6) | -2.2 (28.0) | -6.2 (20.8) | 3.8 (38.8) | | Average low °C (°F) | -14.2 (6.4) | -10.9 (12.4) | -6.1 (21.0) | -2.3 (27.9) | 1.9 (35.4) | 6.0 (42.8) | 7.6 (45.7) | 6.6 (43.9) | 4.2 (39.6) | -1.5 (29.3) | -8.9 (16.0) | -13.6 (7.5) | -2.6 (27.3) | | Mean minimum °C (°F) | -20.9 (-5.6) | -18.2 (-0.8) | -13.6 (7.5) | -7.9 (17.8) | -3.3 (26.1) | 0.5 (32.9) | 2.2 (36.0) | 1.2 (34.2) | -1.8 (28.8) | -8.2 (17.2) | -14.7 (5.5) | -19.9 (-3.8) | -21.7 (-7.1) | | Record low °C (°F) | -30.0 (-22.0) | -28.3 (-18.9) | -19.5 (-3.1) | -12.8 (9.0) | -11.6 (11.1) | -4.8 (23.4) | -1.9 (28.6) | -2.3 (27.9) | -7.9 (17.8) | -14.3 (6.3) | -20.6 (-5.1) | -27.6 (-17.7) | -30.0 (-22.0) | | Average precipitation mm (inches) | 3.7 (0.15) | 4.4 (0.17) | 8.9 (0.35) | 16.4 (0.65) | 54.7 (2.15) | 98.9 (3.89) | 97.6 (3.84) | 87.7 (3.45) | 72.9 (2.87) | 30.8 (1.21) | 3.5 (0.14) | 2.1 (0.08) | 481.6 (18.95) | | Average precipitation days (≥1.0 mm) | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 4.7 | 11.4 | 16.8 | 16.1 | 13.4 | 13.7 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 89.6 | | Average relative humidity (%) | 41 | 39 | 40 | 46 | 55 | 64 | 66 | 66 | 68 | 62 | 48 | 42 | 53 |

4. Administrative Divisions

Yushu Prefecture administers 1 county-level city and 5 counties.

• County-level City: Yushu City
• Counties: Zadoi County, Chindu County, Zhidoi County, Nangqên County, Qumarlêb County

| Division Code | Division Name Tibetan | Hanyu Pinyin Tibetan Pinyin Wylie Transliteration | Area (km²) | Resident Population (2020 Census) | Government Seat | Postal Code | Subdistricts | Towns | Townships | |---------------|----------|---------------------|--------------|-------------------------------------|-------------|----------|------------------| ------------------| ------------------| | 632700 | Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ཡུལ་ཤུལ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ། | Yùshù Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu Yüxü Poirig Ranggyong Kü yul shul bod rigs rang skyong khul | 204,887.14 | 425,199 | Yushu City | 815000 | 4 | 11 | 33 | | 632701 | Yushu City ཡུལ་ཤུལ་གྲོང་ཁྱེར།། | Yùshù Shì Yüxü Chongkyêr yul shul grong khyer | 15,411.54 | 141,308 | Xihang Subdistrict | 815000 | 4 | 2 | 5 | | 632722 | Zadoi County རྫ་སྟོད་རྫོང་། | Záduō Xiàn Zadoi Zong rdza stod rdzong | 35,519.14 | 68,759 | Sahuteng Town | 815300 | | 1 | 7 | | 632723 | Chindu County ཁྲི་འདུ་རྫོང་། | Chèngduō Xiàn Chindu Zong khri 'du rdzong | 14,618.28 | 57,159 | Chengwen Town | 815100 | | 5 | 2 | | 632724 | Zhidoi County འབྲི་སྟོད་རྫོང་།། | Zhìduō Xiàn Zhidoi Zong 'bri stod rdzong | 80,641.95 | 34,496 | Jigbolug Town | 815400 | | 1 | 5 | | 632725 | Nangqên County ནང་ཆེན་རྫོང་། | Nángqiān Xiàn Nangqên Zong nang chen rdzong | 12,060.66 | 90,307 | Xiangda Town | 815200 | | 1 | 9 | | 632726 | Qumarlêb County ཆུ་དམར་ལེབ་རྫོང་། | Qūmálái Xiàn Qumarlêb Zong chu dmar leb rdzong | 46,635.56 | 33,170 | Yugai Town | 815500 | | 1 | 5 |

5. Economy

In 1999, the entire prefecture achieved a gross national product of 596 million yuan, of which the primary industry contributed 400 million yuan. Yushu Prefecture is a major livestock product production base in Qinghai Province, with its output accounting for approximately one-quarter of the province's total.

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6. Population

According to the Seventh National Population Census in 2020, the permanent resident population of the prefecture was 425,199. Compared with the 378,439 people from the Sixth National Population Census, there was an increase of 46,760 people over the ten-year period, a growth of 12.36%, with an average annual growth rate of 1.17%. Among them, the male population was 215,978, accounting for 50.79% of the total population; the female population was 209,221, accounting for 49.21% of the total population. The sex ratio of the total population (with females as 100) was 103.23. The population aged 0–14 was 133,304, accounting for 31.35% of the total population; the population aged 15–59 was 260,223, accounting for 61.2% of the total population; the population aged 60 and above was 31,672, accounting for 7.45% of the total population, of which the population aged 65 and above was 25,691, accounting for 6.04% of the total population. The urban population was 215,245, accounting for 50.62% of the total population; the rural population was 209,954, accounting for 49.38% of the total population.

6.1. Ethnic Groups

Among the permanent resident population, the Han ethnic group numbered 14,009, accounting for 3.29%; the various ethnic minority groups numbered 411,190, accounting for 96.71%. Among these: Tibetans numbered 405,855, accounting for 95.45%; Hui numbered 3,933, accounting for 0.92%; Tu numbered 304, accounting for 0.07%; Salar numbered 525, accounting for 0.12%; Mongolians numbered 115, accounting for 0.03%; and other ethnic minorities numbered 458, accounting for 0.11%. Compared with the Sixth National Population Census in 2010, the Han population increased by 2,324, a growth of 19.89%, and its proportion of the total population increased by 0.21 percentage points; the various ethnic minority populations increased by 44,436, a growth of 12.12%, and their proportion of the total population decreased by 0.21 percentage points. Among them, the Tibetan population increased by 40,686, a growth of 11.14%, and its proportion of the total population decreased by 1.04 percentage points; the Hui population increased by 3,106, a growth of 375.57%, and its proportion of the total population increased by 0.71 percentage points.

Ethnic Composition of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (November 2020)

| Ethnic Group | Tibetan | Han | Hui | Salar | Tu | Dongxiang | Mongolian | Tujia | Bai | Miao | Other Ethnic Groups | |--------------|---------|-------|-------|-------|------|-----------|-----------|-------|-------|-------|---------------------| | Population | 405,855 | 14,009 | 3,933 | 525 | 304 | 129 | 115 | 104 | 94 | 36 | 95 | | Proportion of Total Population (%) | 95.45 | 3.29 | 0.92 | 0.12 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 | | Proportion of Ethnic Minority Population (%) | 98.70 | — | 0.96 | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 |

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Yushu City

Yushu City

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