Namjagbarwa Peak
Namjagbarwa Peak is reputed to be "paradise in the clouds". It is located in Nyingchi Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region with 7756 meters above sea level. It ranks the 15th world highest mountain and is known as one of the ten top most beautiful mountains in the world. From the top down to the bottom, in a linear distance of 2 kilometers, scenes on the Namjagbarwa vary from snowy winter to evergreen season. With huge body of triangular peaks snow, cloud and fog cover, it is difficult to see its true capacity. So comes its another name, " Shy Girl Mountain".
The whole Namjagbarwa Peak is picturesque. On the top, snow persists throughout the year. Beneath the snow-line, there are dark green alpine plants. Further down, clumps of bushes begin to appear. Mauve azaleas in full bloom and pink primroses adorn the mountainside and large tracts of tall firs form a frigid taiga forest. In the lower edge of the taiga forest, you can see trees with larger leaves. Camphor trees are emitting a unique fragrance. At the lower venue, forests become denser. Bananas, chrysalidocarpus and other tropical plants are swaying their huge leaves. The atmosphere is full of the specific muggy air of tropical rain forest. How magical Namjagbarwa is! Because of great altitude, it has become such a good magician that varied sights can be in one same picture. No wonder Namjagbarwa is called a world natural museum of mountain vegetation forms.
The Namjagbarwa Peak is always too shy to come out from the clouds. The rolling clouds always veil the mountain as if Namjagbarwa peak is a paradise in fantasy and this adds more mystery to Namjagbarwa. According to the local Tibetan, only sincere people can see the scenery of Namjagbarwa. Actually, there were British explorers came at the bottom in the hope of seeing its scenery, but they waited for a month in vain. Geographers explain that since Namjagbarwa is next to Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, the moist air from the Indian Ocean flows along the canyon to the north, and mountains on both sides of the canyon are shrouded by clouds and mists.
The white and streaming clouds always envelope the snow - capped mountaintop of Namjagbarwa. Once in a while, the sharply defined triangular peak of the Namjagbarwa may be exposed to view, but almost immediately, the mountain is shyly hidden again. The local Tibetans regard Namjagbarwa as the Road to Heaven. They believe that when clouds flow around the top, the immortals are climbing the mountain to go up to the Heaven.
In Tibetan language, Namjagbarwa means "a long lance piercing into the sky." The sky-scraping Namjagbarwa Peak, with its majestic appearance, precipitous shape and unpredictable climate, has been an ambitious aim of mountain-climbing organizations from various countries, and was only conquered recently by a Sino-Japanese climbing team in 1992.