🇨🇳 Xiahe County

Xiahe County is a county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, China, bordering Qinghai province to the west. The name, which literally means "Xia River", refers to the Daxia River which runs through the county. It is home to the famed Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries outside the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is also the site of Bajiaocheng, an archeological site famous for the distinctive shape of its city walls. The county is populated largely by ethnic Tibetans, as well as some Hui and Han Chinese. The area is highly rural and pastoral. The geography is mountainous. Over the past decades it has become a tourist attraction. The county was named Xiahe in 1928, after the Daxia River that flows through its territory.