Bairi Tibetan Autonomous County, also known as Tianzhu from its Chinese name , is in the prefecture-level city of Wuwei in the central part of Gansu province, China, bordering Qinghai province to the south and west. It has an area of 7147 km2 and approximately 230,000 inhabitants (2003). Its administrative seat is Rabgyai Town (Huazangsi).

Name

The Chinese name "Tianzhu" was named by a Tibetan lama Luo Haoxue (罗好学) in 1936, deriving from the combination of "Tiantang" (天堂寺, aka Chortentang Monastery) and "Zhugong" (祝贡寺, aka Drigung Monastery), the Chinese translation of the two largest lamaseries in the county. The Tibetan name Bairi is pronounced Bairi in Standard Tibetan, and pronounced Hwari in the local Amdo Tibetan and Huarui (华锐) in Chinese. An alternative Tibetan name is Tenzhu, which is a transcription of the Chinese name Tianzhu.

History

The county was established as the Tianzhu District of Yongdeng County in 1949, but became an autonomous county of Wuwei in the next year. In 1955, Tianzhu was moved under the administration of Zhangye as the first autonomous county in China. Between 1958 and 1961, Gulang County was part of Tianzhu. In 1961 the county was placed under Wuwei again.

Administrative divisions

Bairi Tibetan Autonomous County is divided to 14 towns, 5 townships.

Geography

The county is mountainous, being located at the tripoint of the Tibet Plateau, the Loess Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau, with elevations ranging from 2040 m to 4874 m. It is divided into the watersheds of the Shiyang River and the Yellow River and crossed by the Wushao Mountain. South of the Wushao Mountain, the climate is continental and north of it, the climate is semi-arid. The land is mostly covered by grasslands and forests.

Climate

Transport

Ethnic groups in Tianzhu, 2000 census