Chamdo(ChangDu)

Chamdo, population about 86.280 (1999) in Kham in the eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, is Tibet's third largest city (after Lhasa and Shigatse). It is located about 480 km (as the crow flies) from Lhasa, on the road the distance covers 1120 km (southern route) or 1030 km (northern route). It is at an altitude of 3,230 metres (10,600 ft). At the turn of the 20th century it had a population of about 12,000, a quarter of whom were monks. Chamdo, and the region around, it is the centre for the fierce Khampa tribesmen.