Naimona'nyi Feng and Kangrinboqe Feng

In the Burang County of Tibet lie two highland lakes, which are only 3 kilometres apart and interlinked. The larger one in the east is Mapam Yarmco while the smaller in the west is La'ngo co. To the south and north of the lakes stand two famous peaks, respectively called Kangrinboqe Feng and Naimona'nyi Feng. The fomer to its north at 6638 meters above sea level, the main peak of Gangdise Shan, is situated at 81. 3°E and 3I°N while the latter in the south at 7694 meters above sea level, is located at 81.3°E and 30.4°N in the west section of the Himalayas. The two peaks are at a distance of 100 kilometres away from each other.

As called by the Tibetan people, Naimona'nyi Feng means "the Mountain of Goddess" or "Fairy's Peak". Kangrinboqe Feng is considered even more sacred. In Indian language it means Paradise of "Shipo" (the name of a god in India), and in Tibetan language "King of Snowy Mountains". The similar term for it in Ring-ma-pa of Sudan is "the place to decide everything in the world". A Buddhist scripture records that replendent and magnificent places and so on were once built in the hinderland of the 'Mountain of Goddess' where eminent Buddist monks from all over the world gathered and listened to the techings of Sakyamuni, the head of Buddas. In Hinduism, the heavenly god "Shipo" once lived alone in the "Mountain of Goddess" to practice Buddism. The "Mapam Yamco" between the two mountains, however, is regarded by the followers of Hinduism as the "Holy lake", which was the sweet dew granted by the Head of Buddas, Sakyamuni to the world. Besides, "Langa co" is otherwise named "the Ghost Lake", where the soul of the dead reaches heaven. For centuries, the area of two mountains and two lakes is honored by the pious religious followers as a place of "mountains of God and holy lakes", which is called "Gang Co" in Tibetan language. Viewed as a pilgrimage center by the followers of Lamaism, Hiduism and Ring-ma-pa of Sudan, the area is frequented every year by tens of thousands of Buddist followers from Nepal, India and China, who undergo the hardships and follow the footprint of the Head of Buddas to pay their homage to the holy mountain tops. Bathing and having baptism in the holy lakes, they try to see free extrication from the sin of all one's life and manage to have their soul reach the heaven. In the tenth century, because of the civil strife in Tufan (Tibetan regime in ancient China), the decendents of the royal family became fugitives and established three small kingdoms in the Ngari Diqu, with the capital of one kingdom right in Burang. The geographical structure in this area is quite similar to mat in Qomolangma Feng area. About 600 million years ago, with the movement caused by the rise of the Himalayas, it grew higher and became the present giant mountain ranges, producing more than 250 glaciers with a total area of 150 square kilometres. Just with the glaciers as the inexhaustible water resource, it is also the place of origin for many big and famous rivers such as the Henhe River, the Indian River. the Sutlej River and the Yarlung Zangbo River.

With a circumference of 200 square kilometres, Naimona'nyi Feng is mainly composed of 6 ridges. The ten hilltops of 6000 meters in height on the ridge line are strewns at random heights. The west ridge is fan-shaped and arranged from the north to the south while the sole west-east ridge is eroded into extremely steep ridge, forming cliffs with a height difference of nearly 2000 meters. Comparatively, the west slope tends to be rather gental in gradient, in the valley of which cascade five huge glaciers while ice crevasses and ice slope scatter far and wide all over the surface.

The wrist of Kangrinboqe Feng is characterized by a rather big light red platform, the edge of which, seriously corroded by snow, take the shape of canice teeth. A sunken grove forma a ring on the platform, and the top of the peak looks quite close to a crown, shining and eye-catching. Looking from afar, however, you can only see a perfectly round mountain top.

As early as a century ago, explorers all over the world began to pay attention to this area. After the first attempt made by the three English in 1905), Tom, George and their companion, no success had been achieved to get to the summit of Naimona'nyi Feng even though mountaineers from countries such as Japan, America and Austria have tried many a time. It was not until May 26 and 28, 1985 that Jin Junxi, Malsubayashi Kozoand their 11 companions from the Sino-Japan Allied Mountaineering Team made the first ascent of Naimona'nyi Feng along the Zaiungmalongoa Glacier on its north-west slope. For various reasons, however, no attempts have been made to reach Kangrinboqe Feng, the "Mountain of Goddess".

Mountain climbing sees their most favorable time from May to the end of June, when fine days often come and may last 6—8 days. Now, the rainy season starts from July and heavy rainfall is most available in the two months of July and August.

Two routes will lead you to the mountain. One begins from the City of Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Then travel 304-1 kilometres along the Xinjiang-'I'ibet Highway and pass Shiqunhe of Yecheng, and you will arrive at Burang. The other starts from Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Then go west to Xigaze, Saga and finally to Burang. It amounts to 1433 kilometres.