Tsangpo Gorge, in center is Mount Namcha Barwa

The Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon, or the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet is the deepest, and possibly longest canyon in the world. The Yarlung Tsangpo River, usually just called "Tsangpo" (meaning "purifier"), originates from Mount Kailash and running east for about 1700 km drains a northern section of the Himalayas before its enters the gorge near Pe, Tibet. The canyon has a length of about 150 miles as the gorge bends around Mount Namcha Barwa (7756 m) and cuts its way through the eastern Himalayan range. Its waters drop from 3,000 m near Pe to about 300 m at the end of the gorge. After this passage the river enters Arunachal Pradesh, India, and eventually becomes the Brahmaputra.^[1][2] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Namcha Barwa is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya. ... Tibet (see Name section below for other spellings) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. ... Yarlung Tsamgpo River, whitewater Yarlung Tsangpo River, sediment The Yarlung Tsangpo River originates upstream from the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon, Tibet. ... Mount Kailash (officially: Kangrinboqê; Tibetan: Gang Rinpoche, གངས་རིན་པོཅཧེ་; Wylie: Gangs Rin-po-che; ZWPY: Kangrinboqê; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Hindi कैलाश पर्वत, Kailāśā Parvata) is a peak in the Gangdisê mountains, the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia—the Indus River, the Sutlej River, a tributary of the Ganges... Himalaya, see Himalaya (film). ... PE is a code for: Pacific Electric Railway (AAR reporting marks PE) Air Europe Italy (IATA airline designator) Peru (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code, NATO country code) Peterborough: PE is the British post code for the region in eastern England which is served by Peterborough postal sorting office. ... Namcha Barwa is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya. ... , Arunachal Pradesh   (Hindi: Aruṇācal PradeÅ›; Chinese: 藏南 Zangnan or South Tibet) is the eastern most state on Indias north-east frontier. ... The Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of Asia. ...

Yarlung River in Tibet

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 534 pixel Image in higher resolution (2000 × 1334 pixel, file size: 786 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Tibet Yarlung Tsangpo... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 534 pixel Image in higher resolution (2000 × 1334 pixel, file size: 786 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Tibet Yarlung Tsangpo... Yarlung Tsamgpo River, whitewater Yarlung Tsangpo River, sediment The Yarlung Tsangpo River originates upstream from the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon, Tibet. ...

Ecosystem

The gorge has a unique ecosystem with species of animals and plants barely explored and affected by human influence. Its climate ranges from subtropical to arctic. The rare takin is one of the animals hunted by the local tribes. The gorge and its waters are considered sacred in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Its beauty, remoteness, and mystique make it one of the places thought to have inspired the notion of Shangri-La in James Hilton's book Lost Horizon in 1933.^[3] A coral reef near the Hawaiian islands is an example of a complex marine ecosystem. ... Binomial name Budorcas taxicolor Hodgson, 1850 The Takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is a goat-antelope found in heavily forested areas of the Eastern Himalayas. ... Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region (including northern Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh), Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). ... Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the novel, Lost Horizon, written by British writer James Hilton in 1933. ... James Hilton (September 9, 1900 - December 20, 1954) was a popular English novelist of the first half of the 20th century. ... For other uses, see Lost Horizon. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

The "Everest of Rivers”

Since the 1990’s the Tsangpo gorge has been the destination of a number of teams that engage in exploration and whitewater kayaking. The gorge has been called the “Everest of Rivers” because of the extreme conditions of the river.^[4] The first attempt to run was made in 1993 by a Japanese group who lost one member on the river.

In October 1998, a kayaking expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society attempted to navigate the Tsangpo Gorge. Troubled by unanticipated high water levels, the expedition ended in tragedy when expert kayaker Doug Gordon lost his life. The largest waterfall of the river, the "Hidden Falls", was not discovered until 1998.^[5] Sea Kayaking at Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Australia Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. ... The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the worlds largest not-for-profit educational and scientific organizations. ...

In January-February, 2002, an international group consisting of Scott Lindgren, Steve Fisher, Mike Abbott, Allan Ellard, Dustin Knapp, and Johnnie and Willie Kern, completed the first descent of the upper Tsangpo gorge section.^[6] Also see: 2002 (number). ...

Yarlung Tsangpo Hydroelectric Project

This article or section contains information about expected future buildings or structures. Some or all of this information may be speculative, and the content may change as building construction begins.

While the government of the PRC has declared the establishment of a "Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon National Reservation", there have also been governmental plans and feasibility studies for a major dam to harness hydroelectric power and divert water to other areas in China. The size of the dam in the Tsongpo gorge would exceed that of Three Gorges Dam as it is anticipated that such a plant would generate 40,000 Megawatts electricity, more than twice the output of Three Gorges. It has been estimated that construction may start in 2009. It is feared that there will be displacement of local populations, destruction of ecosystems, and an impact for downstream people in India and Bangladesh.^[7] The project is criticized by India because of its negative impact upon the residents downstream.^[8] However, another type of dam, the inflatable, is possible that would obviate any necessity for a huge concrete structure. R.B. Cathcart, in 1999, first suggested a fabric dam--inflatable with freshwater or air--could block the Yarlung Tsangpo Caynon upstream of Namcha Barwa. Water would then be conveyed via a hardrock tunnel to a point downstream from that mountain, affording the generation of tens of thousands of megawatts--power which would have to be distributed internationally and equitably through a Himalayan power grid [7]. Image File history File links Current_event_marker. ... Image File history File links Applications-development. ... PRC is a common abbreviation for: Peoples Republic of China Palestinian Red Crescent Popular Resistance Committees This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Hydroelectricity is the worlds leading renewable energy source. ... Relative position of the Three Gorges Dam . ...

References

1. ^ Tibetan Geography. China Intercontinental Press, 30-31. ISBN 7508506650. 
2. ^ Zheng Du, Zhang Qingsong, Wu Shaohong: Mountain Geoecology and Sustainable Development of the Tibetan Plateau (Kluwer 2000), ISBN 0-7923-6688-3, p. 312;
3. ^ Satellite photo and facts
4. ^ Press release of successful kayak run
5. ^ Discovery of "Hidden Falls"
6. ^ Story by Outside
7. ^ Analysis of Tsangpo Hydroelectric Project, page 21
8. ^ Indian criticism of hydro-dam project

7. R.B. Cathcart, "Tibetan Power: A unique hydro-electric macroproject servicing India and China", Current Science 77: 854 (10 October 1999).

External links

• Into the Tsangpo Gorge (Outside Online)
• IKONOS Satellite Image of "Rainbow Falls" and "Hidden Falls"
• Douglas Gordon at University of Utah
• Touristic information

Books

• Wick Walker (2000). Courting the Diamond Sow : A Whitewater Expedition on Tibet's Forbidden River. National Geographic. ISBN 0-7922-7960-3.
• Todd Balf (2001). The Last River : The Tragic Race for Shangri-la. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80801-X.
• Michael Mcrae (2002). The Siege of Shangri-La : The Quest for Tibet's Sacred Hidden Paradise. Broadway. ISBN 0767904850. ISBN-13: 978-0767904858.
• Peter Heller (2004). Hell or High Water : Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River. Rodale Books. ISBN 1-57954-872-5.
• Ian Baker (2004). The Heart of the World : A journey to the last secret place. Souvenir Press. ISBN 0-285-63742-8.

Videos

• Scott Lindgren (2002), "Into the Tsangpo Gorge". Slproductions. ASIN B0006FKL2Q.