Best Time to Visit Nagqu: Nagqu climate, weather and horse racing

festival
Lying in the north of Tibet Autonomous Region, Nagqu is a sparsely populated area with more
animals than people. An area of unspoiled grasslands and protected wildlife, this is Tibetan
culture at its most rural. Named after the Nagqu River, which is an upper stream of the Nu
River, or the Salween, which flows south from the Tibetan plateau into the Andaman Sea in
Southeast Asia.

Known in Tibetan as “Black River”, Nagqu is the largest region in Tibet, with almost 47 percent
of the total land area of the region, yet with less than 20 percent of the population, most of
whom are nomadic herders. The regions is a natural farmland due to the vast prairies that
cover almost all of the prefecture, The prefecture includes ten counties, as well as the
administrative district known as Seni District, the seat of local government.

Nagqu Location, Altitude and Climate Features

An area of infinite beauty, Nagqu has one of the most unique landscapes in Tibet, with its vast
Changtang grasslands surrounded by mountains on all sides, and stretching across the entire
plateau, from Qinghai in the east to the Ladakh region of India in the west. An area filled with
lakes and rivers, there are more than a thousand small lakes, as well as several large ones,
including the holt Lake Namtso.

With an average altitude of around 4,500 meters, Nagqu is one of the higher areas of Tibet, as a
whole, and is an area of natural hot springs and geothermal areas. The area is also one of the
main areas in Tibet for wildlife protection, and there are more than 20 species of wildlife in
Nagqu that are under level 1 and 2 protection. These protected animals include the wild yak,
wild donkeys, and Tibetan antelopes.

The natural landscape and features have formed their own distinctive tourist attractions in the
region, which includes the unique culture and folk customs of the people. Colorful religious
legends pervade the area, associated with the various mountains, rivers, and lakes, all of which
have retained their natural appearance through limited tourist interaction.

Nagqu Weather Monthly on Average

Lying within the sub-frigid zone of Tibet, Nagqu experiences extremes of cold and wind, and is
an area prone to extremely dry air and violent storms. Throughout the year, there is no period
where there is no frost in the prefecture, and the land is under a state of semi-permanent
permafrost, even in the summer months.

The area has two main seasons, wet and dry, and the dry season runs from November to
March, with the air being dry and arid. The typical sub-arctic climate means that, through the
dry season, it is also at its coldest, with temperatures dropping to as low as -21 degrees in
January. Even the daytime temperatures in the dry season are low, with highs of around -3
degrees during the day in January, and staying below freezing until around mid-March.

From May to September, it is the rainy monsoon season, though most of the rain falls in late
July and August. Around 80 percent of the rainfall comes within the period from May to
September, and during this period, which is also the growing period for the farmers, the
grasslands are an emerald green color and filled with grazing yaks and sheep. Temperatures are
much lower than the rest of Tibet, with daytime highs of no more than 15 degrees, and
nighttime lows that range between -3 in may to around 3 degrees in July, the hottest month of
the year.

Best Time for Nagqu Horse Racing Festival

The Nagqu Horse racing Festival is just one of many that are held throughout the year in Tibet,
but none is as popular and expansive as the Nagqu Horse Racing Festival, held on the
Changtang Grasslands every year in August. The festival can last anywhere from five to fifteen
days, and is the most extravagant of all the horse racing festivals in the region. A time for the
local Tibetans to get dressed up in colorful local costumes and spend several days enjoying the
festivities of the festival, many families travel hundreds of kilometers to visit the festival, setting
up their tents in the hundreds around the horse racing track.

August is a great time to visit Nagqu for the horse racing festival, as it is when the lush
grasslands are at their greenest, and the verdant prairie is covered with small summer flowers
that grow in the grassy landscape of the prairie. An ideal time to visit to see the most colorful
aspects of this northern Tibetan culture, most of which has descended from the ancient
Zhuodai culture of nomadic tribes that first inhabited this region of Tibet more than 5,000 years
ago.

The festival normally starts around the 10th of August in the western calendar, and is the most
magnificent occasion in the north of Tibet. Tens of thousands of herdsmen from all across the
region head for Nagqu City. The area turns into a town of tents, with tent homes and shops,
selling and bartering their goods for the whole period of the festival. The colorful tents, most
decorated with images of Buddha, stretch for miles on the grasslands, smoke rising from the
tops of the tents as the sun drops on the horizon.

How to Adapt to Nagqu Climate for New Comers

The climate in Nagqu is arid for the period from November to March, and not much better from
May to October, when the rains have set in. While the climate of the summer months is wetter,
there is still a dryness to the air that cannot be taken away by the monsoon rains. The area only
sees around 300 millimeters of rain a year, and even in the wettest months, the daytimes are
dry and clear.

For travelers to the region, it is a good idea to bring along a face mask, to help protect yourself
from the dry, arid winds and air of Nagqu. The air can leave your throat dry and sore, and the
harsh winds of the prairies can chap lips and dry skin to cracking. The wind is always cold,
mainly due to the higher altitude and colder climate of the area.

As an area that is always cold, with high temperatures of only 15 degrees in the summer
months, adapting to the intensely harsh climate of the area is hard for tourists, though it is not
as bad if you are only traveling there for short periods. The most important thing to adapt to is
the altitude, as this area of Tibet has a much higher average elevation, with most of the area
reaching altitudes of more than 4,500 meters above sea level. If you are traveling from Lhasa,
you should be acclimatized to the height of the capital before you travel north, or you will be in
a much higher risk area for getting altitude sickness.

Even for those that are properly acclimatized to the lower altitudes, you should remember to
acclimatize again once you arrive in Nagqu, as the higher elevation can increase the risk once
more. Excessive exercise and strenuous activity should be avoided for the first few days, and
plenty of rest, water, and healthy food can help prevent altitude sickness in the area. And since
it is the time of the festival when most tourists visit the area, it means you can relax and enjoy
the delights of the grasslands without the need to exert yourself. Just let the horses do all the
strenuous exercise, they are more used to it.

What to Pack for Nagqu Tour and Travel?

Knowing what to pack for a tour to Nagqu in northern Tibet can be a little harder than packing
for anywhere else. You need to take into consideration the climate of the area, which is pretty
unique, and can be harsh even in the summer months. You will need to take plenty of clothes
to stay warm, as the area is pretty cold throughout the year, with daily temperatures never
getting above 15 degrees. Layers are better than thick jackets and sweaters, and can help you
stay warmer. It is also easier to warm up or cool down by peeling off layers of thinner clothes.

Rugged boots, preferable hiking boots, are a necessity when traveling on the grasslands of
Nagqu, as there are few good roads to walk along. Even areas off festivals and monasteries in
the north of Tibet have rough ground and dirt or gravel tracks for roads. Take thick socks as well
, to keep your feet warm in the boots, or you may suffer from a little frostbite.

While the sun may not be hot, it is still strong, often stronger than most of the rest of the
plateau, the atmosphere is much thinner on the prairies of the north, and the air has less
oxygen content, which means the UV rays of the sun are more likely to burn the skin and cause
sun stroke. A good 30-50 factor sun cream is a necessity, even in the winter months, and a hat
and sunglasses are also essential, to protect your head and eyes from the intensity and
brightness of the sun.

Nagqu is one of the areas of Tibet that does not require an additional permit, and can be visited
from Lhasa just with the Tibet Travel Permit, though you still cannot travel to Nagqu
independently. When traveling to the area, you must make sure you have your permit with you
at all times, as there are many checkpoints on the way and across the area.