Zayü County
Zayü County (Chinese: 察隅县; pinyin: Cháyú Xiàn) or Zayul[2] (Tibetan: རྫ་ཡུལ, Wylie: Dzayül)[3][lower-alpha 1] is a county in the Nyingchi Prefecture in the southeastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is marked by the basin of the Zayul River, with its two branches: Rongto Chu (or the western Zayul River) and Zayul Chu (or the eastern Zayul River). The two branches join together near the town of Rima. After the junction, the Zayul river enters India's Arunachal Pradesh where it is called Lohit.
Zayü County
察隅县 • རྫ་ཡུལ་རྫོང་། | |
|---|---|
.png.webp) Location of Zayü County (red) within Nyingchi City (yellow) and the Tibet Autonomous Region | |
  Zayü Location in the Tibet Autonomous Region | |
| Coordinates: 28°39′40″N 97°28′01″E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Autonomous region | Tibet |
| Prefecture-level city | Nyingchi |
| Area | |
| • Total | 31,305 km2 (12,087 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 2,330 m (7,640 ft) |
| Population (2010)[1] | |
| • Total | 27,255 |
| • Density | 0.87/km2 (2.3/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
The Zayul county borders India and Burma to the south and China's Yunnan province to the southeast. To the northeast lies the Bome County and to the northwest the Medog County. Its headquarters is the town of Zayü.
China claims the entire Arunachal Pradesh as being part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, especially part of the Zayul River valley below Rima. The area was one of the theatres of the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
In 1950, Zayü County was the epicenter of a devastating earthquake.
Geography
Zayü County is located in an area of highly varying topography, lying just south of the Tibetan Plateau in the mountainous region east of the Himalayas where the Transhimalayas transition to the Hengduan Mountains. Specifically, Zayü straddles the southern parts of the Baxoila Range, the eastern parts of the Kangri Garpo mountains, and the eastern parts of the Mishmi Hills.[4] Elevations generally decrease from northwest to southeast, with a maximal variation of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft): in the county, areas near the southern border have an elevation of 1,400 metres (4,600 ft),[5] while there are 10 peaks over 5,000 metres (16,000 ft),[5] the highest being Kawagarbo in the Meili Xue Shan at 6,740 metres (22,110 ft). The county has an average elevation of 2,300 metres (7,500 ft).[5] The primary rivers are the Zayü River through the central parts of the county and Nu River (Salween) in the east.
The county has an area of 31,305 square kilometres (12,087 sq mi).[5] Besides India, Burma, and Yunnan, Zayü borders Zogang County to the north and Mêdog County to the southwest.
Climate
Owing to its moderate elevation (for Tibet), Zayü has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb), a rarity in Tibet, with mild and quite dry winters, and warm, rainy summers. The rainy season lasts from March to September, and June through August each average more than 20 days of rainfall per month. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 4.7 °C (40.5 °F) in January to 19 °C (66.2 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 12.1 °C (53.8 °F). The frost-free period is 280 days annually. Here, the diurnal temperature range is not large, maxing out at 16.8 °C (30.2 °F) in November. Its climate is well-suited to support a variety of agricultural and forestry products.[5]
| Climate data for Zayü (1981−2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 21.7 (71.1) |
22.0 (71.6) |
26.7 (80.1) |
28.9 (84.0) |
30.2 (86.4) |
32.3 (90.1) |
32.6 (90.7) |
31.1 (88.0) |
31.5 (88.7) |
29.5 (85.1) |
22.8 (73.0) |
19.8 (67.6) |
32.6 (90.7) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 12.0 (53.6) |
12.6 (54.7) |
14.2 (57.6) |
17.0 (62.6) |
21.8 (71.2) |
24.4 (75.9) |
24.9 (76.8) |
25.1 (77.2) |
23.7 (74.7) |
20.6 (69.1) |
16.8 (62.2) |
13.4 (56.1) |
18.9 (66.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.7 (40.5) |
6.0 (42.8) |
8.1 (46.6) |
10.7 (51.3) |
15.2 (59.4) |
18.3 (64.9) |
19.0 (66.2) |
18.9 (66.0) |
17.4 (63.3) |
13.2 (55.8) |
8.5 (47.3) |
5.3 (41.5) |
12.1 (53.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −0.2 (31.6) |
1.4 (34.5) |
3.8 (38.8) |
6.5 (43.7) |
10.6 (51.1) |
14.4 (57.9) |
15.3 (59.5) |
15.1 (59.2) |
13.8 (56.8) |
8.7 (47.7) |
3.4 (38.1) |
0.2 (32.4) |
7.8 (45.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −5.5 (22.1) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
2.5 (36.5) |
8.0 (46.4) |
9.5 (49.1) |
8.5 (47.3) |
6.0 (42.8) |
0.9 (33.6) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 15.2 (0.60) |
30.5 (1.20) |
89.2 (3.51) |
129.5 (5.10) |
81.8 (3.22) |
71.4 (2.81) |
109 (4.3) |
101.9 (4.01) |
76.9 (3.03) |
59.0 (2.32) |
17.3 (0.68) |
10.7 (0.42) |
792.4 (31.2) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 6.2 | 10.6 | 17.4 | 18.4 | 17.9 | 20.4 | 22.3 | 22.7 | 19.0 | 11.8 | 5.4 | 3.0 | 175.1 |
| Source: Weather China[5] | |||||||||||||
Environment
The central parts of Zayü County contain a large isolated section of the Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests throughout the Zayü River valley and its tributaries.[6] The highland areas of Zayü contain Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows.[7] The eastern parts of the county are classified as Nujiang Langcang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests.[8] There are, however, extremely dry areas within the Nu Valley in Zayü that support mostly succulents.
Gecko Hemiphyllodactylus zayuensis, named after Zayü, is only known from the county.[9]
Administrative divisions
Zayü County has administration over three towns and three townships:
- Zayü Town (Chinese: 竹瓦根镇; pinyin: Zhúwǎgēn Zhèn) 28.6647°N 97.4663°E - County seat,
- Xiachayu (Lower Zayul) (Chinese: 下察隅镇; pinyin: Xià Cháyú Zhèn) 28°29′N 97°01′E
- Shangzayü (Upper Zayul) (Chinese: 上察隅镇; pinyin: Shàng Cháyú Zhèn) 28°43′N 96°46′E
- Goyü Township (Chinese: 古玉乡; pinyin: Gǔyù Xiāng)
- Golag Township (Chinese: 古拉乡; pinyin: Gǔlā Xiāng)
- Cawarong Township (Chinese: 察瓦龙乡; pinyin: Cháwǎlóng Xiāng)
The town of Rima (pinyin: Lì mǎ) 28.4362°N 97.0574°E was once referred to as the "Zayü Town".[3]
There are also numerous villages scattered throughout the valleys in Zayü County administered by their respective towns or townships. Puzang is part of Upper Dzayül and Shaqiong is part of Lower Dzayül.
Notes
- Alternative spellings include Dzayul, Chayul, Tsayul, as well as their Chinese variants Chayu or Tsayu.[3]
References
- "Cháyú Xiàn". City Population. Thomas Brinkhoff. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. 2 (1966), p. 275; Mehra, The McMahon Line and After (1974), p. 74
- Nyingchi Prefecture-Level City, KNAB, retrieved 5 July 2021.
- Atlas of China. Beijing, China: SinoMaps Press. 2006. ISBN 9787503141782.
- 察隅 - 气象数据 -中国气象数据网 (in Chinese (China)). Weather China. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- "Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests". Global Species. Myers Enterprises II. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
- "Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows". Global Species. Myers Enterprises II. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
- "Nujiang Langcang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests". Global Species. Myers Enterprises II. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
- Hemiphyllodactylus zayuensis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 2 February 2022.
Bibliography
- Kingdon Ward, F.; Smith, Malcolm (November 1934), "The Himalaya East of the Tsangpo", The Geographical Journal, 84 (5): 369–394, doi:10.2307/1786924, JSTOR 1786924
- Lamb, Alastair (1966), The McMahon Line: a Study in the Relations Between, India, China and Tibet, 1904 to 1914, Vol. 2: Hardinge, McMahon and the Simla Conference, Routledge & K. Paul
- Mehra, Parshotam (1974), The McMahon Line and After: A Study of the Triangular Contest on India's North-eastern Frontier Between Britain, China and Tibet, 1904-47, Macmillan, ISBN 9780333157374 – via archive.org
