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.
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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