Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ley the whole time. We've also made pretty good geologists out of some of our regular
drivers - they sometimes know what we want to stop and look at before we do.'
The Chinese province commonly referred to as Tibet is officially called the Tibetan
Autonomous Region (TAR) and has an area of 1.23 million sq km; bigger than the com-
bined area of France, Spain and Portugal.
Ütsang
Made up of the combined regions of Ü and Tsang, which constitute central Tibet, Ütsang
is the political, historical and agricultural heartland of Tibet. Its relatively fertile valleys
enjoy a mild climate and are irrigated by wide rivers such as the Yarlung Tsangpo and the
Kyi-chu.
Changtang
Towards the north of Ütsang are the harsh, high-altitude plains of the Changtang (northern
plateau), the highest and largest plateau in the world, occupying an area of more than one
million sq km (think France, the UK and Germany). The dead lakes of the Changtang are
the brackish remnants of the Tethys Sea that found no run-off when the plateau started its
skyward ascent.
Tibet Wild by George Schaller describes the eminent field biologist's three decades of
travel and research on the remote Changtang plateau.
Geographically speaking, the Tibetan plateau makes up almost 25% of China's total land-
mass, spread over five provinces.
Ngari
Ngari, or western Tibet, is similarly barren, although here river valleys provide grassy
tracts that support nomads and their grazing animals. Indeed, the Kailash range in the far
 
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