Namtso
title: "Namtso" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lakes-of-tibet", "buddhist-pilgrimage-sites-in-china", "landforms-of-lhasa", "saline-lakes-of-asia", "damxung-county"] topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namtso" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox lake"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Namtso / Namco |
| image | Namtso-and-holy-rock.jpg |
| caption | View of the lake and the holy rock near the Tashi Dor monastery (2005) |
| image_bathymetry | Nam Tso.png |
| caption_bathymetry | Relief map. Lhasa is the area marked in red at the bottom. |
| location | Damxung/Baingoin, Tibet Autonomous Region |
| coords | |
| type | salt lake |
| pushpin_map | Tibet |
| inflow | snow cover and spring of Tanggula Mountains |
| outflow | None (endorheic) |
| basin_countries | People's Republic of China |
| length | 70 km |
| width | 30 km |
| area | 1920 km2 |
| depth | 33 m |
| max-depth | 125 m |
| volume | 768 e9m3 |
| elevation | 4718 m |
| islands | 5 |
| :: |
| name = Namtso / Namco | image = Namtso-and-holy-rock.jpg | caption = View of the lake and the holy rock near the Tashi Dor monastery (2005) | image_bathymetry = Nam Tso.png | caption_bathymetry = Relief map. Lhasa is the area marked in red at the bottom. | location = Damxung/Baingoin, Tibet Autonomous Region | coords = | type = salt lake |pushpin_map=Tibet | inflow = snow cover and spring of Tanggula Mountains | outflow = None (endorheic) | catchment = | basin_countries = People's Republic of China | length = 70 km | width = 30 km | area = 1920 km2 | depth = 33 m | max-depth = 125 m | volume = 768 e9m3 | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = 4718 m | islands = 5 | cities = Namtso (officially Namco; ; ) or Lake Nam (), also referred to as Tengri Nor ('Heavenly Lake'; ), is a mountain lake on the border between Damxung County of Lhasa prefecture-level city and Baingoin County of Nagqu Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, approximately 112 km NNW of Lhasa. It lies north of the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (Nyainqêntanglha) on the Tibetan Plateau.
Geography
Namtso (Namco) is a lake that first formed during the Paleogene age, as a result of Himalayan tectonic plate movements. The lake lies at an elevation of 4,718 m, and has a surface area of 1,900 km2. This salt lake is the largest lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region. However, it is not the largest lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. That title belongs to Qinghai Lake (more than twice the size of Namtso); which lies more than 1,000 km to the north-east in Qinghai.
Namtso has five uninhabited islands of reasonable size, in addition to one or two rocky outcrops. The islands have been used for spiritual retreat by pilgrims who walk over the lake's frozen surface at the end of winter, carrying their food with them. They spend the summer there, unable to return to shore again until the water freezes the following winter. This practice is no longer permitted by Chinese authorities.
The largest of the islands is in the northwest corner of the lake, and is about 2100 m long and 800 m wide, rising to just over 100 m in the middle. At its closest point it is about 3.1 km from the shore.
Climate
The weather at Namtso is subject to abrupt, sudden change and snowstorms are very common across the Nyenchen Tanglha mountain range.
Namtso has an alpine climate (Köppen ETH) characterised by frigid, extremely dry winters and cool, rainy summers.
|metric first=y |single line=y
|location = Namtso (Namco) |Jan high C = -3.0 |Feb high C = -1.4 |Mar high C = 1.7 |Apr high C = 5.6 |May high C = 10.0 |Jun high C = 14.0 |Jul high C = 14.4 |Aug high C = 13.4 |Sep high C = 11.7 |Oct high C = 6.5 |Nov high C = 1.4 |Dec high C = -1.7 |Jan mean C = -11.8 |Feb mean C = -9.6 |Mar mean C = -6.1 |Apr mean C = -1.7 |May mean C = 2.9 |Jun mean C = 7.3 |Jul mean C = 8.4 |Aug mean C = 7.7 |Sep mean C = 5.6 |Oct mean C = -0.3 |Nov mean C = -6.8 |Dec mean C = -10.5 |year mean C = |Jan low C = -20.6 |Feb low C = -17.8 |Mar low C = -13.8 |Apr low C = -9.0 |May low C = -4.2 |Jun low C = 0.7 |Jul low C = 2.5 |Aug low C = 2.1 |Sep low C = -0.4 |Oct low C = -7.1 |Nov low C = -14.9 |Dec low C = -19.3 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 1 |Feb precipitation mm = 1 |Mar precipitation mm = 1 |Apr precipitation mm = 4 |May precipitation mm = 14 |Jun precipitation mm = 51 |Jul precipitation mm = 87 |Aug precipitation mm = 87 |Sep precipitation mm = 48 |Oct precipitation mm = 10 |Nov precipitation mm = 2 |Dec precipitation mm = 1 |source 1 =
Other Features
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/NH-46-5_Nam_Tso_China.jpg" caption="NH-46-5 Nam Tso China"] ::
Namtso is renowned as one of the most beautiful places in the Nyenchen Tanglha mountain range. Its cave hermitages have for centuries been the destination of Tibetan pilgrims. A surfaced road across Laken Pass at 5186 m was completed to the lake in 2005, enabling easy access from Lhasa and the development of tourism at the lake. Settlements in the area include Dobjoi, Donggar and Cha'gyungoinba. The Tashi Dor monastery is located at the southeastern corner of the lake.
Around the area's natural elements, historical and anthropological background, a 2010 romantic drama 香格里拉 Shangri-La, starring China's popular actor Hu Ge, was broadcast at CCTV1 and received positive reviews. Some scenes in the 2002 Hong Kong film The Touch were filmed at the lake. Namtso Lake was featured in Episode 4, The Roof of the World, of BBC TV series: Himalaya with Michael Palin.
Gallery
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Asteroid
Asteroid 248388 Namtso, discovered by Italian astronomer Vincenzo Casulli in 2005, was named after the lake. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 5 October 2017 (M.P.C. 106504).
References
References
- (2004-10-05). "Namtso Lake".
- Molenaar, Dee. (2002). "The Challenge of Rainier". The Mountaineers Books.
- "248388 Namtso (2005 SE19)".
- "Chinese, German scientists record new depth of Nam Co Lake".
- "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive".
- (September 2008). "Late Pleistocene Lake Level Fluctuations of the Nam Co, Tibetan Plateau, China". Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie.
- "胡歌主演《香格里拉》30分钟片花 - 电视剧《香格里拉》_新浪视频". SINA Corporation.
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