Damxung

Damxung County occupies high grassland north of Lhasa in the Tibet Autonomous Region, administered directly under the Lhasa municipal government, with an average elevation around 4,200 metres beneath the towering Nyenchen Tanglha range. Its economy centers on yak and sheep pastoralism on some of the plateau's best grazing land, along with a fast-growing tourism trade built around Namtso, whose southeastern shore lies within the county, and a substantial geothermal-power industry drawing on the Yangbajing field, one of the largest geothermal resources in China. The Qinghai–Tibet Railway runs directly through the county, and Damxung railway station, opened in 2006 at over 4,000 metres, is one of the highest stations on that historic line. There is no university in Damxung, and students continue their studies in Lhasa, home to Tibet University and Tibet University for Nationalities. Every August the county hosts the lively Damxung horse-racing festival, drawing nomad herders from across the northern grasslands, and together with the sacred, sky-blue expanse of Namtso and the glaciated peaks above, it makes Damxung one of the most visited natural landscapes in the Tibet Autonomous Region.