# Bayi District

Bayi or Chagyib District (巴宜区 or བྲག་ཡིབ་ཆུས།), formerly Nyingchi County, is a District of Nyingchi in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Bayi Town, the administrative capital of Nyingchi, is located within the district.

## History

In 1951, modern administrative structures formally integrated the area, initially establishing it as Nyingchi County. In 2015, it was upgraded to a district, adopting the name "Bayi", derived from the district’s main urban area, Bayi Town. This town, developed post-1950s, became a key logistical and transportation node due to its strategic position on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.

## Geography

Bayi is located in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Both steep cliffs and flat valleys exist in the area. The average altitude is 3000 metres above sea level. "The lowest places are just around 1,000 metres above sea level."
There are many scenic places in or near Bayi. The Seche La Mountain Scenic Spot, in the east of Nyingchi County, is a part of the Nyainqentanglha Mountain Range, the watershed of the Nyang River and the Parlung Tsangpo. The Sichuan-Tibetan Highway passes by. Standing at the mountain pass at 4,728 meters above sea level, one can admire the sunrise, sea of clouds, endless forest and the grand Namjagbarwa Peak.
Güncang township and Pelung Township by the Sichuan-Tibet Highway are home to the Moinba ethnic group.

## Administrative divisions

Bayi District contains 2 subdistricts, 4 towns, 2 townships, and 1 ethnic township.
| Name | Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Tibetan | Wylie | Population (2010) | Notes |
| Subdistricts |||||||
| Baimagang Subdistrict | 白玛岗街道 | Báimǎgǎng Jiēdào | པད་མ་སྒང་ཁྲོམ་ལམ་། | pad ma sgang khrom lam | | split from Chagyib Town in 2016. |
| Jomo Subdistrict | 觉木街道 | Juémù Jiēdào | ཇོ་མོ་ཁྲོམ་ལམ་། | jo mo khrom lam | | split from Chagyib Town in 2016. |
| Towns |||||||
| Nyingchi Town | 林芝镇 | Línzhī zhèn | ཉིང་ཁྲི་གྲོང་རྡལ། | nying khri grong rdal | 3,267 | |
| Bêba Town | 百巴镇 | Bǎibā zhèn | སྤྲེ་པ་གྲོང་རྡལ། | spre pa grong rdal | 3,748 | |
| Chagyib Town (Bayi) | 八一镇 | Bāyī zhèn | བྲག་ཡིབ་གྲོང་རྡལ། | brag yib grong rdal | 39,110 | Former Bayi Subdistrict |
| Lunang Town | 鲁朗镇 | Lǔlǎng zhèn | ཀླུ་ནང་གྲོང་རྡལ། | klu nang grong rdal | 1,588 | |
| Townships |||||||
| Puqu Township | 布久乡 | Bùjiǔ xiāng | བུ་ཆུ་ཤང་། | bu chu shang | 3,128 | |
| Mairi Township | 米瑞乡 | Mǐruì xiāng | སྨད་རི་ཤང་། | smad ri shang | 2,247 | |
| Ethnic township |||||||
| Güncang Monba Ethnic Township | 更章门巴族乡 | Gēngzhāng Ménbāzú xiāng | དགུན་ཚང་མོན་པ་མི་རིགས་ཤང་། | dgun tshang mon pa mi rigs shang | 1,614 | |

## Culture

Buchu Monastery is located about 28 km (17 mi) south of Bayi Town. Lamaling Monastery is located in Puqu Township.
"The Benri La Mountain near the Dagzê Village on the western slope of the mountain is a sacred site of the Tibetan Bön Sect and one of the four great holy mountains in Tibet." It is located in the southeast of Pulha, north of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Pilgrimages attract devotees throughout the year. "Every tenth day of the eighth month of the Tibetan calendar, a grand mountain worshiping activity is held, which is called "Nangbolhasoi," meaning "seeking for treasures from immortals." "Each year during the Saga Dawa Festival the pilgrims will come to worship and circle around the holy mountain." Seven Bon temples were built around the mountain.

## Climate

Bayi District has a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb). "Under the influence of the monsoon from the Indian Ocean, the area has neither scorching summer nor freezing winter. With ample rainfall, the air is quite humid. The sunshine is long and the frost is short."
Climate data for Nyingchi County (1971−2000) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.3 (46.9) | 9.5 (49.1) | 13.0 (55.4) | 16.4 (61.5) | 19.2 (66.6) | 21.4 (70.5) | 22.1 (71.8) | 22.0 (71.6) | 20.3 (68.5) | 17.3 (63.1) | 13.4 (56.1) | 9.8 (49.6) | 16.1 (60.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −5 (23) | −2.7 (27.1) | 0.6 (33.1) | 3.4 (38.1) | 6.7 (44.1) | 10.3 (50.5) | 11.5 (52.7) | 11.0 (51.8) | 9.5 (49.1) | 5.3 (41.5) | −0.6 (30.9) | −4.4 (24.1) | 3.8 (38.8) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 1.6 (0.06) | 4.4 (0.17) | 17.0 (0.67) | 47.1 (1.85) | 74.3 (2.93) | 125.2 (4.93) | 133.9 (5.27) | 123.3 (4.85) | 114.6 (4.51) | 39.9 (1.57) | 5.3 (0.21) | 1.4 (0.06) | 688.0 (27.09) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 2.8 | 6.0 | 11.5 | 17.3 | 19.6 | 23.0 | 22.8 | 21.5 | 22.2 | 14.0 | 4.0 | 1.7 | 166.4 |
| Source: Weather China ||||||||||||||

## Education

Xizang Agricultural and Husbandry University, or Tibet College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, is a full-time undergraduate public provincial college in the People's Republic of China, located in Bayi District.

## Transport

* China National Highway 318
The Lhasa–Nyingchi railway commenced operations in 2021, featuring Nyingchi station [zh] in Bayi District.