Written by Zhu Haiyan
[a]
In Shannan in Tibet, in Shigatse, and in Nyingchi, I have met the Brahmaputra River many times. When I put pen to paper and wanted to write about this river, I wondered, where to start? I think it's interesting to enter from the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River.
/Brahmaputra River Grand Canyon (picture source network)/
The lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River have a typical "U" shaped bend. The top of the big bend has the main peak of the eastern end of the Himalayas - Nanga Bhava Peak, with an altitude of 7787 meters, and its outer side has the heating Labai Peak with an altitude of 7257 meters, the Brahmaputra River crosses between the peaks, and after turning a horseshoe shape around the Nanga Bhava Peak, it roars southward and cuts out a canyon, which is the famous Brahmaputra River Grand Canyon. This steep, deep-cut 504.6-kilometre canyon is home to the highest mountain in the world, abundant water, snow-capped mountains, a variety of lush tropical monsoon forests, and a rich diversity of life.
Since 1973, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Comprehensive Scientific Expedition Team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Mountaineering Scientific Expedition Team, the Sino-Japanese Joint Expedition Team, and the expedition teams organized by the former Ministry of Water and Power, the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources and other departments have all visited the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon. However, they were unable to reach the 90-kilometer stretch of the Grand Canyon from Baima Geqiong to Tashi, Zaqu to Bayu, and Bayu to Gandai. These sections of the river have not been explored on foot along the river before.
In 1994, Xinhua News Agency announced to the world that the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River was the largest canyon in the world. This was the most significant geographical discovery made by the Chinese at the end of the 20th century. At the same time, Xinhua News Agency announced the names of three scholars: geographer Yang Yichou, atmospheric physicist Gao Dengyi, and botanist Li Bosheng. This discovery was made after many comprehensive investigations and scientific demonstrations in many disciplines, including geology, geomorphology, plants, animals, meteorology, hydrology, etc. However, when this conclusion was reached, the pace of Chinese scientific expeditions had not yet been able to measure the entire canyon.
/Brahmaputra Grand Canyon (picture source: Internet)/
If a major river cannot be comprehensively investigated from beginning to end, then the inspection report drawn by people will certainly be incomplete, which is a pity of the times.
From October to December 1998, the China Association for Scientific Exploration organized the "98 China Tiannian Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon Scientific Expedition Team" to hike through the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon and conduct a comprehensive investigation of the Grand Canyon. The expedition was divided into three detachments. The expedition route of the detachment was from Pai Township, passing through Baima Geqiong to Zhaqu at the entrance of the Palung Zangbo Hui, a tributary of the Brahmaputra River.
The second detachment also set out from Pai Township, crossed the Duoxiongla Pass at an altitude of more than 4,200 meters to the downstream of Metuo County, went down the river to Didong and Xirang, and then went north along the river, passing through Didong, Beibang, Motuo, Reisa, Gandai, Lugu, and Bayu, and arrived at the base camp of Zhaqu to join the first detachment.
In addition to inspecting the vicinity of Paixiang and Zhaqu, the detachment also conducted an investigation in the peripheral areas of the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon.
This expedition is a scientific expedition composed of scientists, journalists and mountaineering teams, which lasted 40 days, traveled 600 kilometers, carried out extremely arduous scientific investigations in the deep mountains and dense forests, cliffs, and turbulent water in the Grand Canyon, obtained a large amount of information, and realized the "historical miracle of human beings trekking through the Grand Canyon for the first time" outside the indigenous people. ”
The investigation made a more accurate determination of the data of the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon. In the past, the only known canyon in the world was the Grand Canyon of Colorado in the United States, which is 370 kilometers long and has an extreme depth of 2,133 meters; The deepest canyon is the Kaligandeg Grand Canyon in Nepal, with an extreme depth of 4,403 meters and a length of 60 kilometers. Another famous canyon is the Colca Canyon in Peru, with an extreme depth of 3,200 meters and a length of 90 kilometers. The Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon, with its length of 504.6 kilometers, its depth of 6,009 meters, its altitude difference ups and downs, its vertical vegetation, its rich biodiversity resources, and its peerless beauty, dominates the world and leads the first scenery of the gorges in the world.
/Tibet Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon is the world's largest canyon (picture source network)/
The total area of the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River is 916,800 hectares, bounded by the northern watersheds of Gaoyula and Danba in the south, reaching the Nayongga Dusting Snow Mountain in the north, and taking the Qilongzangbo River and the Gyri Gabu Mountains as the ridges, the watershed from the main ridge line of the East Himalayas to the Bainu Rongba and Zerang Brazil in the west, and the main peak of the Chorigab in the east, with a core area of 320,000 hectares, a buffer zone of 37,000 hectares, and an experimental area of 559,800 hectares.
The Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River is within the four counties of Metuo, Miling, Nyingchi and Bomi in the Nyingchi region of Tibet. From the village of Daduka in Milin County in the north to the village of Basika in Medog County in the south.
The Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon is a national protected area, which mainly protects the mountain forest ecosystem and biodiversity resources, and protects the natural landscape in the world's largest canyon and the most important water and gas channel environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. According to statistics, there are 3,768 species of vascular plants, 512 species of bryophytes, 686 species of macrofungi and 209 species of rust fungi in the Grand Canyon. The above groups accounted for 65% of the total number of vascular plants, 65% of bryophytes, 78% of macrofungi and 78% of rust fungi in Tibet. There are 21 species of rare plants protected by the state, and 40 species of "model species" plants named after Motuo. Specifically, it includes Motuolan, Motuonan, oil melon, Himalayan yew, spike fir, podocarpus, metasequoia, Rhodiola motosa, wild peony, Tibetan oyster bamboo, apple fig, Du Ying, Junzi, wild loquat, Motuo rhododendron and so on.
/Brahmaputra River, Grand Canyon, Tibetan Macaques (Image source, Internet)/
/The elves of the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon Impala (picture source: Internet)/
/Brahmaputra River, Grand Canyon, Tibetan antelope (picture source, network)/
There are also 63 species of mammals, 232 species of birds, 25 species of reptiles, 19 species of amphibians and more than 2,000 species of insects in the Grand Canyon. There are 18 species of national protected animals and 29 species of second-class protected animals. However, these groups account for 50% of mammals, 49% of birds, 43% of reptiles, and 47.5% of amphibians.
The ecological value here is huge. It is strongly influenced by the warm and humid airflow of the Indian Ocean along the northward plateau along the water and gas channel, and the Grand Canyon develops the only complete three-dimensional climate type in China with the tropics as the base, through the mountain subtropics, the mountain temperate zone, and the alpine cold zone, forming a low-mountain tropical monsoon rainy forest, a mountain subtropical evergreen semi-evergreen broad-leaved forest, a mid-mountain warm temperate evergreen coniferous forest, a subalpine cold temperate evergreen coniferous forest, an alpine subarctic shrub meadow, The world's most complete vertical spectrum of mountain ecosystems composed of mountain ecosystems such as alpine subarctic ice edge and extremely alpine boreal ice and snow. It provides a good habitat for wildlife and is one of the most distinctive mountainous biodiversity areas in the world, and is known as a "natural museum of vegetation types" and a "gene bank of biological resources." ”
Scientists believe that the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River is "a keyhole that opens the door to the history of the earth." "I thought that the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River was still an optimization of the entire Tibetan ecological environment and a huge oxygen channel. Without it, the phenomenon of hypoxia in Tibet would be even more serious; Without it, Tibet's vast grasslands would likely become endless deserts like the Qaidam Basin.
/Tibet Mira Mountain Scenery (Image Source Network)/
Once, when I was going from Lhasa to Nyingchi, I climbed the 5,100-meter Mila Mountain, but I saw shrubs all over the mountain. I wondered why there were so many trees and shrubs growing in northern Tibet, where there were more than 4,000 trees. Later, when I approached the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River, I realized that it was the role of the water and air channel in the Indian Ocean along the north of the Grand Canyon, which changed the ecological environment around the Grand Canyon with its infinite amount of humidity and sufficient oxygen.
The characteristics of the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River are high, strong, deep, secluded, long, strange, beautiful, dangerous and low. The highest point is 7,782 meters, while the lowest point is only 155 meters above sea level. Because the mountain peaks are all strong rising faults, towering and straight, straight into the clouds, the glaciers on the peaks and ridges hang, the clouds and mist are shrouded, the weather is thousands, and its magnificence is incomparable. Due to the steep terrain, inconvenient transportation, and sparsely populated, many river sections are not inhabited at all, giving people a sense of seclusion and mystery.
/Brahmaputra River, Grand Canyon, Yalong Glacier Scenery (Image source, Internet)/
There are a large number of glaciers in the Grand Canyon, such as Yalong Glacier, Xiri Youfu Glacier, Zelong Lane Glacier, Baima Geqiong Glacier and so on. With so many glaciers, there is a lot of meltwater to feed the river.
At the end of the Grand Canyon, the average annual runoff is 165.4 billion cubic meters, and the average annual flow is 5,240 cubic meters per second, which is basically three times the water volume of the Yellow River. After deducting the amount of water coming from the upper and middle reaches, the average annual water production in the interval is about 105.5 billion cubic meters. The length of the main stream in the Grand Canyon area accounts for 24.1% of the whole river, and the catchment area between the river is 49,959 square kilometers, accounting for 20.8% of the total area of the river basin. However, the average annual water yield of the Grand Canyon accounts for 63.8% of the annual runoff of the whole river.
The water energy reserves in the Grand Canyon area are as high as 93.61 million kilowatts, of which 68.81 million kilowatts are in the main stream section, accounting for 82.5% and 87% of the whole basin and the main stream respectively.
The above data shows that the Grand Canyon is extremely rich in water resources, and the hydropower resources are even more abundant, and it can be said that it is the largest hydropower bonanza in the mainland and even the world. In addition, the Grand Canyon also has the characteristics of small interannual variation of runoff, relatively even distribution within the year, less suspended sediment content, and good water quality.
/Zangbu Padang Waterfalls (Image source network)/
In 1998, a scientific expedition also discovered four large waterfalls on the main stream of the Grand Canyon. They are between Xixingla and Zhaqu in the Grand Canyon, and there are 4 waterfalls groups of Zangbu Badong, Zhadam, Bailei and Rongzha from top to bottom, among which there are 3 large waterfalls, with a height of 30 meters to 50 meters and a waterfall width of 50 meters to 120 meters. The waterfall roared down, and a loud sound echoed through the canyon.
As for the use of the Grand Canyon, many experts have put forward very good suggestions: In the near future, we can first develop and utilize small tributaries, develop artesian water diversion for irrigation, expand the area of rice cultivation in places where conditions permit, increase crop yield, and reduce the area of sloping cultivated land. At the same time, the hydropower resources of small tributaries can be developed and utilized, and small hydropower stations can be built to provide power for the processing of agricultural and sideline products and improve people's living standards.
In the medium and long term, under the premise of full scientific demonstration, with the support of new technologies, new materials, new equipment and new processes, we can develop hydropower bonanzas on the main stream of the Brahmaputra River, and build a super giant Modean hydropower station with an installed capacity of more than 38 million kilowatts, which will be one of the largest hydropower stations in the world and one of the 10 major human projects in the 21st century, which is internationally recognized.
During the 1998 scientific expedition, experts made new suggestions on the location of the dam and the way to divert water. New information has also been added on the possibility of diverting water from the Brahmaputra River and from the Grand Canyon.
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/Bird's eye view of the Brahmaputra River (Image source: Internet)/
Let's look beyond the Grand Canyon of the Brahmaputra River to the entire Brahmaputra River. The Brahmaputra River is the largest river in Tibet and the highest river in the world. It originates in the southern part of Tibet, belongs to the Indian Ocean water system, traverses the southern part of Tibet from west to east, is 2,057 kilometers long, ranks sixth in length among China's major rivers, and the height of the riverbed is mostly above 3,000 meters above sea level. The Brahmaputra River originates from the Jemayangzong Glacier on the northern slope of the middle Himalayas, at an altitude of 5,590 meters. Saga is called Maquan River above and Brahmaputra River below. There are many moraine lakes in the source area of the river, and the glacial lakes are connected with the river and flow from west to east. The town of Pai in Milin County turned northeast and then changed to the south, and flowed out of the Chinese border into India at Bashika in Medog County. After entering India, it flows from east to west, called the Brahmaputra River, and then turns east to south, flows into Bangladesh, joins the Ganges River in Dhaka, and finally empties into the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
The main stream of the Brahmaputra River flows through Shigatse, Lhasa, Shannan and Nyingchi in Tibet, 4 regions and 23 counties, with a basin area of 240,500 square kilometers, ranking fifth among the rivers in China, and the annual diameter of the river flowing out of China is 140 billion cubic meters, ranking third only in terms of water volume after the Yangtze River and the Pearl River.
The Brahmaputra in the Brahmaputra River means "snow water flowing from the mountains". There are two views on the origin of the name of the Brahmaputra River:
First, it is named after the name of the mountain. The Brahmaputra River is called Yangchabu Zangbo in ancient Tibetan, which means water flowing down from the highest peak, and its source has three branches, the northern branch originates from the Gangdis Mountains, called Marong Zangbo; The middle branch originates from Chema Rongdong, which is considered to be the main source of the river because of its large perennial water volume. The southern branch originates in the Himalayas and is called Kubi Zangbo. The three branches converge in a section of Lizi, collectively known as the Maquan River. However, in the Zadong area, this river is also called "Dabra Zangbo", which means "Ma River" in Tibetan, or "Ma Zang Zangbo", which means "mother river". The Latse region is called "Sheep Zangbo". To the west of Lhatse, the Brahmaputra River is collectively known as "Dazhuo Kabu", which means "water flowing from the horse's mouth". The place around Qushui is called "Yalu" in Tibetan. The river flows to the south of the mountain and is called the Brahmaputra River.
Second, the legend is that it was named after a Tibetan chieftain. Yalu, according to legend, is the ancestor of the Tibetan chieftain, and "Zangbo" is the transliteration of Zampu, who is a famous chief in Tibetan history and named the river after it.
The Himalayas rise to the south of the Brahmaputra River, the Gangdis Mountains and the Ninchen Tanggula Mountains to the north, and the southern Tibetan valley between the north and the south.
/The source of the Brahmaputra River, Jemayangzong Glacier (picture source, network)/
In 1975, the Chinese Academy of Sciences organized a comprehensive scientific expedition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to enter the source of the river and found out that the Jiemayangzong was the source of the Brahmaputra River, and that Mayumu Zangbo and Kubi Zangbo were its tributaries. The source area is composed of two rivers, Jema Yangzong and Kubi Zangpo. At the source of the two rivers, there are Jemayangzong Glacier, Shabuga Glacier, Angruo Glacier, Asejiaguo Glacier, etc., which constitute a huge solid reservoir. The total area of glaciers and permanent snow cover is about 116 square kilometers.
This 2,057-kilometer-long river has a total drop of 5,435 meters and an average slope of 2.6‰, ranking first among the major rivers in the mainland.
There are many tributaries of the Brahmaputra River, with 9 first-class tributaries with a basin area of 2,000 to 10,000 square kilometers, and 5 first-class tributaries with a basin area of more than 10,000 square kilometers according to the size of the basin.
The Lhasa River is located on the left side of the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River, with a basin length of about 300 kilometers from east to west and a width of nearly 200 kilometers from north to south, with a basin area of 32,471 square kilometers, accounting for about 13.5% of the total basin of the Brahmaputra River, and is its largest tributary. The length of the river is 551 kilometers, the total drop is 1620 meters, and the average slope is 2.6‰. It originates at the northern foot of the middle section of the Nianqing Tanggula and east of Medika in Jiali County. The basin is one of the most important agricultural production areas in Tibet, especially the downstream areas are the political, economic and cultural center of Tibet. The famous ancient city of Lhasa is located on the banks of the Lhasa River.
/Tibet Bomi County Palung Zangbo River Scenery (Image Source Network)/
Located on the left bank of the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, Palung Zangbo is the most abundant of the five tributaries, with annual runoff equivalent to the other four tributaries combined. The river is 266 kilometers long and has a basin area of 28,631 square kilometers, ranking fourth and second among the five major tributaries of the Brahmaputra River, respectively. The network of the Palung Zangbo River is dense and has many tributaries.
Located on the left bank of the middle and upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River, Duoxiong Zangbo joins the main stream near Pengcuolin, and is the most upstream-upstream of the five major tributaries. The basin is long and narrow in the east-west direction, about 250 kilometers long from east to west, 79 kilometers wide from north to south, and the basin area is 19,697 square kilometers, ranking third among the tributaries of the Yarlung Zangbo River. The total length of the river is 303 kilometers, and the total drop is about 1,872 meters. The northern part of the basin is mostly mountainous, with peaks at about 6,000 meters above sea level, and the southern peaks of the basin are mostly about 4,700 meters above sea level. Duoxiong Zangbo is close to the main stream of the Brahmaputra River, flowing parallel to the east, and the two rivers are 30 to 40 kilometers apart.
The Niyang River is located on the left bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, the basin is 230 kilometers long from east to west, 110 kilometers wide from north to south, and the basin area is 17,535 square kilometers, ranking fourth among the tributaries, and the water volume is only smaller than that of Palung Zangbo, ranking second. There are many tributaries of the Niyang River, mainly Baiqu, Niangqu, Balangqu, Bahe, Zelong, Pubu Nongba and so on.
The Nianchu River is located on the right bank of the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, with a basin area of 11,130 square kilometers, accounting for the fifth among the tributaries of the Yarlung Zangbo River. The total length is 217 kilometers, with a total drop of 1,322 meters. It originates in the snow-capped mountains at the northern foot of the middle Himalayas, and Nirvana Zangbo is its source. The main tributaries of the Nianchu River include Longma River, Chongba Chung Qu, Renlapu Qu, Lu Qu, Larong Tong Qu, Tan Juqu and Zija Qu. The city of Shigatse, Tibet's second-largest city, is located at the mouth of the lower reaches of the Nianchu River.
The Yarlung Zangbo River basin has a vast area, complex terrain and great altitude differences. There are snow-capped peaks above 7,000 meters above sea level in the basin, and there are also humid and hot valleys downstream at an altitude of only 150 meters. The distribution of precipitation in the basin is less in the west, more in the east, and the most in the southeast. The annual average temperature has a clear zonal distribution, with a low temperature in the west and a high in the southeast. Therefore, the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River are warm and humid, and the upper reaches are cold and dry. The natural landscapes in the basin are very different, from the downstream to the upstream, there are different landscape zones such as mountain forests, mountain and shrub grasslands, and alpine meadows. In addition, the vertical zone changes greatly, especially in the southern foothills of the Himalayas. The cultivated land area in the basin accounts for 59% of the total cultivated land area in Tibet.
/Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon National 5A-level Scenic Area (Image source network)/
This magnificent and mysterious Grand Canyon did not usher in the poets of the Tang Dynasty or the lyricists of the Song Dynasty. The composers of the Yuan Dynasty and the painters of the Ming and Qing dynasties rarely set foot in this place, so when I wrote this travelogue of the landscape in the high cold zone, I could not quote the classics, and here I can only transcribe a poem by the famous Tibetan poet Cangyang Gyatso's "Into the Paradise on Earth", which is the end of this article:
The light of the Buddha passes through the boundless desolation
There was a voice of happiness and serenity
Early in the morning, I waved the wings of the white clouds
At night, I prostrate in your paradise
Living beings flow in obedience to the Brahmaputra River
Time is getting longer and longer in the Potala Palace
The boundless grassland opens its arms
I am a warm sheep
I'm going to Tibet
Look up at the snowy area
The scenery is beautiful and the grass is green
Everywhere is the pasture of my soul
I'm going to Tibet to look up
Look up at the vastness of life and death
Accustomed to being lonely and having long dark nights
Snowdrops bloom in my heart
……
Introduction of Zhu Haiyan
Zhu Haiyan, a native of Lixin, Anhui Province, enlisted in the army in 1976 and served as a soldier, platoon commander, deputy instructor, and cultural officer of the division's Political Department in the Seventh Division of the Railway Corps.
In 1983, he was transferred to the "Railway Soldier" newspaper, and in February 1984, he was transferred to the "People's Railway" newspaper as a reporter, chief reporter, and chief reporter. In 1998, he served as editor-in-chief, president and editor-in-chief of China Railway Construction News, and a senior reporter. In March 2010, he was transferred to the Engineering Management Center of the Ministry of Railways as the deputy director at the bureau level, specializing in the writing of railway construction reports.
The winners of the 6th Fan Changjiang Journalism Award are the "four batches" of talents in the national propaganda system, leading figures in China's press and publishing circles, and senior experts directly controlled and contacted by the central government. He has won the China Journalism Award eight times, won the first and second prizes of provincial and ministerial news awards more than 90 times, and won the "Five One Project" award of the Central Propaganda Department for his long-form reportage "There is War in the North". He has published 40 collections of various works, with a total word count of 20 million words. He enjoys the allowance of the State Council and is a member of the Chinese Writers Association
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