Atlas
Namtso
One of Tibet's three sacred lakes, the highest salt lake in the world — its waters mirror snow peaks and starry skies, pure as heaven's looking glass.
Prefecture: Lhasa
Province: TibetNamtso's blue waters reflect a broad snow-covered mountain range, bordered by a curved rocky shore, sparse alpine grass and dry foothills beneath a pale sky.
Natural Wonder3
- Nam Tso Zhashi Peninsula
The sacred peninsula projecting into the turquoise lake, dotted with ancient hermit meditation caves.
- Sacred Elephant Sky Gate
A gigantic natural limestone arch resembling a sacred elephant dipping its trunk into the heavenly waters.
- Mount Nyenchen Tanglha Peak
The 7,162m glaciated holy mountain crowning the Tibetan Plateau above Lake Namtso.
Vista1
- Nam Tso Palms-Together Rock & Caves
Colossal natural rock towers standing in the form of praying hands against the snowy horizon.
Tang1
- The Namtso Padmasambhava TraditionEighth-century Tang traditional period (c. 700–800 CE)
Tibetan local tradition links Padmasambhava with Nyenchen Tanglha and Namtso as a sacred mountain-and-lake landscape.
Song1
- Naṃtso Sheep-Year Circumambulation TraditionContinuing Tibetan tradition
Dangxiong local ethnographic material records a Naṃtso lake circuit every twelve years in the sheep year as a long-standing Tibetan tradition.