Lhatse (town)

The new town of Lhatse (Wylie: lha rtse ) or Lhatse Xian, also known as Quxar, Quxia or Chusar, is a small town of a few thousand people in the Tibet Autonomous Region in the valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Lhatse County, 151 kilometres (94 mi) southwest of Shigatse and just west of the mountain pass leading to it. Lhatse is 4,050 metres (13,290 ft) above sea-level.

Region

The modern town is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of the old village of Lhatse and the small Gelug monastery of Lhatse Chö Dé (Wylie: lha rtse chos sde ). Above the monastery are the ruins of the old dzong or Drampa Lhatse (Wylie: gram pa lha rtse ), which is on a rock 150 metres (490 ft) high at the opening of the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon. At the western end of the town is another small monastery, Changmoche.

10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Lhatse are the Xiqian Hot Springs, widely renowned for their healing properties.

Further east are the ruins of the Drampa Gyang (Wylie: gram pa rgyangs ) Monastery, one of King Songtsän Gampo's main geomantic temples built in the 7th century. It was thought to pin down the troublesome left hip of the ogress whose body lay under all the high plateau with her heart located under the Jokhang in Lhasa. It once housed a famous image of Vairocana.