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Yangpachen
Yangpachen, 87 kilometers (54 miles) north
of Lhasa, is famous for its hot springs. It was said that
long time ago, before the sky and the earth was separated,
the whole world was in total darkness. People living at
the foot of Mt. Nyainqentanglha were suffering. One day,
a golden phoenix flied to the area, determined to create
brightness by sacrificing itself. It threw one of its bright
eyes onto the ground. A fairy caught the eye, and then a
bright lamp arose in the air. Snow capped peaks of Mt. Nyainqentanglha
appeared; grassland like huge carpet emerged; happiness
came into Tibetan people. However, a greedy man near Yangpachen
coveted the lamp. He took a witch man's idea to sharpen
his hatred into an arrow to shoot the lamp. The lamp was
broken then, the pieces of the lamp dropped onto the ground,
turning into hot springs and burned the man to his end.
People said that the hot springs were the fairy's tears.
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The town lies at high and cold plateau.
However, people approaching will see some hot springs blowing
out smokes going up to sky. While the surrounding area was
barren and extremely cold, Yangpachen is green with grass
and highland barley growing exuberantly.
Smokes emitting from the springs cover
the small town. Now it has a thermoelectricity plant, green
houses and hot spring bathrooms, attracting more and more
tourists.
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