Nagchukha, or Chinese transliteration: Naqu (simplified Chinese: 那曲镇; pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Nàqū), is a small town in northern Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

, seat of the Nagqu Prefecture

Nagqu Prefecture

Nagqu Prefecture ; ; Wylie: Nag-chu Sa-khul; simplified Chinese: 那曲地区; pinyin: Nàqū Dìqū) is the largest prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Nagqu has a total area of 450,537 km²...

 approximately 250 kilometers north-east of the capital Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

, in the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

.

At the time of the visit in 1950 of Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

, Nagchukha was a small town with only a few clay huts but was also the headquarters of the District Officer, the Dzongpön. it was on the main caravan route coming from Amdo

Amdo

Amdo is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River to the Drichu river . While culturally and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a...

 to Central Tibet.

It is along the newly opened Qingzang railway

Qingzang railway

The Qinghai–Xizang railway, Qingzang railway, or Qinghai–Tibet railway , is a high-elevation railway that connects Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, in People's Republic of China....

  at 14,850 feet (4,526 meters).

China is planning to build the highest airport in the world at an altitude of 4,436 metres (14,500 ft). The construction is planned to start in 2011 and take three years to complete. When completed, it will overtake the current the highest, Qamdo Bangda Airport

Qamdo Bangda Airport

Qamdo Bamda Airport , also known as Bangda Airport, located in Bangda, Qamdo, Tibet, is the highest airport in the world, at an elevation of . Runway 14/32 is the longest publicly used runway in the world, at ....

, with an elevation of 4,334 metres (14,219 ft).

Footnotes