Zayu Nature Reserve

Zayu County is located at the convergence of the Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains, east of the Nyingchi. It is one of the frontier counties of Nyingchi. With a population of 250,000, Zayu covers an area of 31,659 square kilometres. The average altitude is 2,300 m above sea level. Like water town found only in Southern China, Zayu is a fertile place with mild weather throughout the year and picturesque natural scenery.


 

The main attraction in this area is the Zayu Nature Reserve(Chinese name: 察隅慈巴沟自然保护区). The reserve is located at the southeast corner of the Tibetan Plateau, at the juncture of two parts of the Himalaya Mountain Range. Zayu Nature Reserve consists of the Ciba Gully Nature Reserve, Shuzhub Village Nature Reserve and Lhamo Lungba Nature Reserve. The forest of Yunnan pine trees has an intact primitive landscape, with a regular forest. The total stock volume of trees is about 200,000 cubic meters, an average of over 1,200 cubic meters per hectare. Various growth factors are four to five times of the counterparts in other places of China. The primitive forest landscape is well preserved here. It is a haunt of rare wild animals, such as the Bangladesh tiger, bear, leopard, pangolin, golden vulture and python. The cliff sculptures in Zayu County are another famous attraction.