Yarlung Tsangpo

The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo (Tibetan: ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་, Wylie: yar kLungs gTsang po, ZWPY: Yarlung Zangbo) and Yalu Zangbu River (Chinese: 雅鲁藏布江; pinyin: Yǎlǔzàngbù Jiāng), is the upper course of Brahmaputra River. It flows through the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Arunachal Pradesh state of India. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The upper section is also called Dangque Zangbu meaning "Horse River".

Originating from the Angsi Glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, it later forms the South Tibet Valley. When leaving the Tibetan Plateau, the river forms the world's largest and deepest canyon, Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, before passing into Arunachal Pradesh where it gets far wider and is called the Siang. After reaching Assam, the river becomes known as the Brahmaputra.

Description

The Yarlung Tsangpo River is the highest major river in the world. Its longest tributary is the Nyang River. Major tributaries include the Nyangchu River, Lhasa River, Nyang River, and Parlung Tsangpo.

In Tibet, the river flows through the South Tibet Valley, which is about 1,200 kilometres long and 300 kilometres wide. The valley starts at 4,500 metres above sea level and drops to 3,000 metres. As it descends, the plants change from cold desert to dry steppe, then to scrub vegetation, and finally to conifer and rhododendron forests. The tree line is around 3,200 metres. Near Lhasa, sedimentary sandstone rocks contain minerals that show changes in the Earth's magnetic field.

The Yarlung River basin, surrounded by the Himalayas to the south and the Kang Rinpoche and Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains to the north, has a milder climate than nearby higher areas. Most people in the Tibetan Autonomous Region live here.

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, formed by a sharp bend where the river leaves the Tibetan Plateau and flows around Namcha Barwa, is the deepest and possibly longest canyon in the world.

The Yarlung Tsangpo River has three major waterfalls. The largest, called "Hidden Falls," became known in the West in 1998. Stories about these falls had been shared by Tibetan hunters and Buddhist monks with early westerners, but Western explorers had not found them until then. Chinese geographers said they had already seen the falls from a helicopter in 1987.

Kayak exploration

Since the 1990s, the Yarlung Tsangpo River has attracted many teams for exploration and whitewater kayaking. The river is famous for its very difficult conditions. In October 1998, a kayaking trip backed by the National Geographic Society tried to go through the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon. The trip was stopped by unexpected high water.

In early 2002, a group of people from different countries finished the first trip through the upper part of the Tsangpo gorge.

Dams and hydropower projects

Further information: List of dams on the Brahmaputra River

In November 2020, a leader from PowerChina said they would begin building a huge electricity-producing project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River. This project would be the largest in the world.

In December 2024, China allowed the building of the Medog Hydropower Station on the Yarlung Tsangpo. When finished, it would be the biggest dam of its kind in the world. The project cost about 1 trillion yuan. Building started on July 19, 2025. Both India and Bangladesh worry about how the dam will affect their countries after it starts working, which is expected after 2030.