China Canyon
Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon
3,059 m of rock, cut by the Yarlung Tsangpo River.
Jiang Jianhua · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
3,059 metres, to scale.
A slice through Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
3,059m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
19.6km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
53°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
2,610m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
23 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 25 °C on the floor, against 2 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and from September to October. The rim freezes at night all year round. The wettest months are from May to September.
- 9°-13°Jan
- 11°-12°Feb
- 14°-8°Mar
- 18°-5°Apr
- 22°-1°May
- 24°2°Jun
- 25°2°Jul
- 25°2°Aug
- 22°0°Sep
- 18°-5°Oct
- 14°-9°Nov
- 11°-12°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Canyon in Tibet, China
Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon is a canyon in China, cut by the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The relief model measures 3,059 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 20 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Nyingchi Mainling Airport (LZY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 82 km in a straight line
- From April to May and from September to Octoberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The Yarlung Tsangpo River runs highest from July to September.
The Yarlung Tsangpo River carries about 1,679 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from July to September. It is lowest from December to April.
- 638 m³/sJan
- 515 m³/sFeb
- 445 m³/sMar
- 741 m³/sApr
- 1,364 m³/sMay
- 2,585 m³/sJun
- 3,766 m³/sJul
- 4,189 m³/sAug
- 4,268 m³/sSep
- 3,177 m³/sOct
- 2,075 m³/sNov
- 1,315 m³/sDec
From about 445 m³/s in the lowest month to 4,268 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 205,512 km².
Follow the Yarlung Tsangpo River from source to mouth on Riveryas
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- viewpoints within 5 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- car parks within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 km
- hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
- restaurants and cafés within 4 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
In our other atlases
What else is around Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Riveryas5 rivers in the canyonFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 11 |
| Afternoon · rim | -13 | -12 | -8 | -5 | -1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -5 | -9 | -12 |
| Night · rim | -24 | -23 | -21 | -18 | -14 | -11 | -9 | -9 | -12 | -16 | -21 | -23 |
| Rain (mm) | 3 | 6 | 22 | 50 | 74 | 121 | 132 | 110 | 111 | 43 | 6 | 2 |
| Rainy days | 0 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.8 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 8.6 | 8.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 7 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | -13 | -24 | 3 | 7.8 |
| Feb | 11 | -12 | -23 | 6 | 8.1 |
| Mar | 14 | -8 | -21 | 22 | 8.3 |
| Apr | 18 | -5 | -18 | 50 | 8.3 |
| May | 22 | -1 | -14 | 74 | 8.0 |
| Jun | 24 | 2 | -11 | 121 | 7.0 |
| Jul | 25 | 2 | -9 | 132 | 7.0 |
| Aug | 25 | 2 | -9 | 110 | 7.7 |
| Sep | 22 | 0 | -12 | 111 | 6.5 |
| Oct | 18 | -5 | -16 | 43 | 6.7 |
| Nov | 14 | -9 | -21 | 6 | 8.6 |
| Dec | 11 | -12 | -23 | 2 | 8.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (2,610 m) and the rim (6,116 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | — | 168% | 52% | 122% | 162% | 110% | 152% | 107% | 144% | 87% | 133% | — |
| 2021 | — | 53% | 92% | 58% | 85% | 100% | 150% | 165% | 129% | 121% | 24% | — |
| 2022 | — | 332% | 79% | 180% | 83% | 133% | 41% | 38% | 206% | 229% | 14% | — |
| 2023 | — | 290% | 144% | 111% | 56% | 101% | 85% | 135% | 39% | 86% | 76% | — |
| 2024 | — | 217% | 82% | 147% | 72% | 208% | 93% | 26% | 73% | 146% | 29% | — |
| 2025 | — | 129% | 128% | 137% | 139% | 108% | 89% | 100% | 72% | 102% | 129% | — |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q19742) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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