Namling
{{Infobox settlement
|name =Namling
|other_name =
|native_name = {{bo-textonly|རྣམ་གླིང་}} · {{lang|zh-Hans|南木林镇}}
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|settlement_type = Town
|image_skyline =
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|pushpin_map = China Tibet topography
|pushpin_label_position =
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in the Tibet Autonomous Region
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = People's Republic of China
|subdivision_type1 = Autonomous region
|subdivision_name1 = Tibet
|subdivision_type2 = Prefecture-level city
|subdivision_name2 = Shigatse
|subdivision_type3 = County
|subdivision_name3 = Namling
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|population_blank1_title =Major Nationalities
|population_blank1 =Tibetan
|population_blank2_title =Regional dialect
|population_blank2 =Tibetan language
|timezone1 = China Standard
|utc_offset1 = +8
|postal_code_type =Postal code
|coor_pinpoint = Namling Town government
|coordinates = {{coord|29.6850|N|89.1012|E|type:city_region:CN-54_source:Gaode|format=dms|display=it}}
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Namling or Namlingxoi ({{bo|t=རྣམ་གླིང་}}; {{zh|s=南木林镇 |p=Nánmùlín Zhèn}}) is a town and seat of Namling County in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, about {{convert|72|km}} by road northeast of Shigatse (the second largest town in Tibet), north of Dobjoi.
Geography
The town is located at an altitude of 4683 metres (15,367 feet), at a bend in the Tsangpo River.{{cite book|last=Lesdain|first=Count De|title=From Pekin to Sikkim: Through the Ordos, the Gobi Desert and Tibet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7eErW58PuHMC&pg=PA294|access-date=26 January 2013|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1046-0|page=294}} The township of Namling covers an area of {{convert|391|km2}} and has a population of about 7000 people.{{cite web|url=http://www.cfguide.com/town/Namling_666661313.htm|title=Namling|publisher=Cfguide.com|access-date=26 January 2013}} Several forts can be seen along the hills above the river valley and one fort is the Namling Dzong. Vegetation in the area is sparse today, almost devoid of any vegetation looks like a desert country. Fossils (assessed to be of 15 million years age) unearthed here reveal that leaves, willows, alders, maples, rhododendrons and conifers existed here.{{cite book|last=Searle|first=Mike|title=Colliding Continents: A geological exploration of the Himalaya, Karakoram, and Tibet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmK-hpZtHWgC&pg=PA297|access-date=26 January 2013|date=March 2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-965300-3|page=297}} The village is situated on a cone-shaped hill.{{cite book|title=Scottish Geographical Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIlKAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA150|access-date=26 January 2013|edition=Public domain|year=1908|publisher=Royal Scottish Geographical Society.|pages=150–}}
Education
Namling has developed in recent times into a regional educational centre, overlooked by the Bureau of Education.{{cite book|author=周爱明 |script-title=zh:西藏教育/英文版/中国西藏基本情况丛书 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7i3aKuSR3pcC&pg=PA104|access-date=26 January 2013|year=2004| publisher = China Intercontinental Press|isbn=978-7-5085-0570-1|page=104}} In 1993, the Namling County Schools Project received funding from the US-based Boulder-Lhasa Sister City Project. The schools of this project achieved the best results in 1994, in Tibet.{{cite book|last=Bass|first=Catriona|title=Education in Tibet: Policy and Practice Since 1950|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cMg9W9NqjiUC&pg=PA129|access-date=26 January 2013|year=1998|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-1-85649-674-2|page=129}}
Notable landmarks
Namling Dzong is a prominent fortress in the area, which has been likened to European castles along the Rhine. In the early 17th century, the 5th Dalai Lama founded the Ganden Chökhor monastery in Namling, reached via a chain bridge; it was the first of thirteen monasteries of his era.{{cite book|last=Hale|first=Thomas|title=A Light Shines in Central Asia: A Journey Into the Tibetan Buddhist World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-WAnvGvE39QC&pg=PA51|access-date=26 January 2013|date=January 2000|publisher=William Carey Library|isbn=978-0-87808-350-3|pages=51–}} There were 300 monks at the monastery in 1908. It was the seat of the Teshu Lamas.{{cite book|last=Holdich|first=Thomas Hungerford|title=Tibet the Mysterious|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtkQEq8GFPYC&pg=PA97|access-date=26 January 2013|date=1 December 1996|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1146-7|page=97}}
Villages
The township contains the following villages:
- Ren'ou Village ({{lang|zh-Hans|仁欧村}})
- Xuedui Village ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|雪堆村}})
- Gangba Village ({{lang|zh-Hans|岗巴村}})
- Qiawa Village ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|恰娃村}})
- Gangga Village ({{lang|zh-Hans|岗嘎村}})
- Xuemai Village ({{lang|zh-Hans|雪麦村}})
- Gabu Village ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|嘎布村}})
- Kong'a Village ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|孔阿村}})
- Miru Village ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|米如村}})
- Baimadang Village ({{lang|zh-Hans|白玛当村}})
- Jilong Village ({{lang|zh-Hans|吉龙村}})
- Dalong Village ({{lang|zh-Hans|达龙村}})