Nyainqentanglha Mountains

Nyainqentanglha Mountains is a mountain range lying approximately 300 kilometer north-west of Lhasa in central Tibet. The range's highest peak, Mount Nyainqentanglha, stands at 7,162 meters in Damxung County. It ranks as the 18th highest mountain in China. The nearest town to this peak is Yangbajain. The mountain range has more than thirty peaks over 6,000 meters high, and four are more than 7,000 meters high.

The Nyainqentanglha range separates the basin of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the south from the endorheic basins of north-eastern Tibet in the north. In particular, it lies to the south of Namtso Lake, the second largest saltwater lake in Tibet; it is said to be the highest saline lake in the world at 4,716 metres. Extending into the center of the lake is Zaxi Peninsula with its Zaxi Temple.

Wreathed by cloud and mist all the year round and frequented by wrathful lighting and peals of thunder, the snow-capped Nyainqentanglha stands mysteriously tall and upright over plains, gorges and other snow mountains. It has the largest ice zone in the southern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, like an ice fairy land which truly inspires people.

Nyainaentanglha is believed by many religious followers to be a Buddhist guardian. It is also the major deity in the grasslands to the north. Followers of the Bon religion and Buddhism hold it to be the place where various Buddhist masters practiced Buddhism.