Country China County Tingri County Elevation 4,330 m Population 8,767 (2000) | Prefecture Shigatse Prefecture Time zone CST (UTC+8) Local time Saturday 12:34 PM Province Tibet | |
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Weather 7°C, Wind W at 10 km/h, 24% Humidity | ||
Shelkar or Shelkar Dzong (Shelkhar = "white crystal", Tibetan: ཤེལ་དཀར་), also called "New Tingri", is the administrative centre for Tingri County, Shigatse Prefecture in southern Tibet.
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Map of Xiege'erzhen, Tingri, Xigaze, Tibet, China
Location
The town lies 7 km off the Friendship Highway between Lhatse and Tingri, at the southern foot of 5,260 m high Gyatso La.
Landmarks
Shelkar is famous for the Shelkar Chode Monastery, founded in 1266 by a Kagyu lama, but it has been a Gelugpa monastery since the 17th century, and formerly had some 300 monks. Although dismantled by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, the assembly hall has been rebuilt, and there is an active branch monastery in Boudhanath, Nepal.
The ruins of the old dzong are located on the hill behind the monastery.
Gateway to Everest
The early British expeditions to Mount Everest in 1921, 1922 and 1924 all stopped at Shelkar Dzong on their way from Darjeeling to the northern side of Everest.