This article about The Nyangchu Valley is published on the site
http://www.tibet.cn/english/zt/unspoiled-land/..%5Cunspoiled-land/200402004518111327.htm from China Tibet Information Center (en.tibet.cn)

(The picture comes from the site)

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Nyangchu is one of the five main branches of the Yarlung Tsangpo river basin and it lies to the north of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Rising in Tsomulianglha in the west slope of the Mila Mountain, the river flows 307.5 kilometers from west to east and joins the Yarlung Tsangpo in Nyingchi. With the drop in elevation of 2273 meters, Nyangchu has an average flow capacity of 538 cubic meters per second and the annual flow capacity of 22 billion cubic meters.

A story goes that the water of Nyangchu is the tear of Goddess. Thanks for the clear water of the river and the well-preserved vegetation of the banks, Nyangchu is also called the “Mother River” by Kongpo people.

Kongpo Gyanda is an important courier station of ancient Sichuan-Tibet Highway. In the Qing Dynasty merchants gathered together here, and the merchants from Sichuan Gantse occupied one third of the local people. They live together with the local people and got along well with them. Up to now, descendants of Han people are still living here and more than one hundred coffin chambers with Han characters are still left. Nowadays Kongpo Gyanda county is still lively here and more than one hundred coffin chambers with Han Characters are still left. Nowadays Kongpo Gyanda county is still lively and the necessities for tourism are available.

With a long-standing history and surrounded by green trees, Ngapo Village is located not far from the east of Nyangchu. It is the hometown of Ngapo Ngawang Jigmei. It is said that the Ngapo Manor was built in 100 B.C. by the eldest son of the eighth Drigum Tsanpu when he went in exile in Kongpo. “Nagpo” means “fate” in Tibetan. The villagers do their farm work on the sloping banks of the Nyangchu. Some of them are also engaged in transportation or weaving. Not far from the Ngapo village, the Nagpo Bridge is a kind of suspension bridge spanning the Nyangchu, Nagpo, the vice-chairman of the committee, himself provided funds to built the bridge for his hometown.

Bayi Town, the capital of Nyingchi, is the political, economic, nd cultural center of Nyingchi Region. With an elevation of 2900 meters, more than 400 kilometers far from Lhasa, the town is located at the bank of the Nyangchu which is thirty kilometers away from the confluence of yarlung Tsangpo and Nyangchu. Originally, there were only several temples and dozens of families here. After the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the Liberation Army began to do the construction. So it was named “Bayi”. (”Bayi” means August first, anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army). Covering an area of five sq. kilometers with a floorage of 350 thousand meters. Bayi town has a population of thirty-five thousand. Since 1950, textile, power industry, timber processing, papermaking, building materials and printing have been well developed here. Up to now, the town becomes a newly well-equipped multi-functional city. Both of the Tibet Agriculture and Animal Husbandry College (The college is one of the important bases for training the qualified personnel of Tibet with specialists of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and water & electric power.) and The Plateau Ecology Institute are in the town.

As an important commercial center of southeast Tibet, the Bayi Town is prosperous. A great deal of goods in the market are from Lhasa, Chengdu, some even from Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The handicrafts, materials and daily necessities which are made in counties and regions near Bayi Town flow to all over China from here.

Surrounding with verdant forestry, green hills and clear waters, Bayi Town was also an important hub of communication which links up the south, east and west of Tibet. The tempo of life here is much faster than Lhasa. In the near hilly area, the mushrooms, such as Collybia albuminosa, can be seen every where. The local people sold them to earn money and take them as delicious food.