Chamdo

English

Alternative forms

• Qamdo (official)

Etymology

From Tibetan ཆབ་མདོ (chab mdo).

Proper noun

Chamdo

1. A prefecture-level city in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China.
   • 1852, Henry T. Prinsep, Tibet, Tartary, and Mongolia‎^[1], 2nd edition, London: W. H. Allen & Co., →OCLC, page 133:

     Chamdo is the capital of the province of Kham, and was heretofore fortified, but the walls had fallen to decay.

   • 1957, Robert Ford, Wind Between the Worlds‎^[2], Berkeley: Snow Lion Graphics, published 1987, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 4:

     Haste would have been undignified for a Tibetan government official whatever his mission, and in any case the rough track that passed for the main street of Chamdo was heavily iced.

   • 2000, Ani Pachen, Adelaide Donnelley, Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun‎^[3], Doubleday, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 90:

     Gosay Tsering, my father’s eldest minister, spoke first. ‘For centuries, like the body following the head, we in Gonjo have paid taxes and obeyed the laws laid down by the government of Tibet. But in a few short years’ - he raised his hand in emphasis - ‘the Chinese have changed all that. Now our decisions are forced to be made by the fraudulent “Chamdo Liberation Committee.” ’
     The mention of the committee in Chamdo brought heated response, for it was well known that though the committee was composed of Tibetans and Chinese, the Tibetans were represented in name only, and the governing force was Chinese.

   • 2011 December 2, Keith Richburg, “A 12th self-immolation, first in Tibet proper, poses test for China”, in The Washington Post‎^[4], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 December 2011, Asia & Pacific‎^[5]:

     According to the reports, which could not be independently verified, Tenzin Phuntsog, 46, formerly of the Karma monastery in the town of Chamdo, ignited himself near the monastery. He survived and is being treated at a hospital, the reports said.

   • 2013 December 31, “Correction: China-Tibet-Monk Detained story”, in AP News‎^[6], archived from the original on 13 June 2022‎^[7]:

     Tsering Woeser said Karma Tsewang was taken away by police Dec. 6 while traveling on business in the city of Chengdu. She said the monk was taken to Chamdo prefecture, where he has been detained since. […]
     Police in both Chamdo and Nangqian said they had no knowledge of the case. Calls to local governments were either unanswered or answered by people who said they did not know about the case.
     Tsering Woeser said that Tang, who was retained by Karma Tsewang’s family, had been denied visits with the monk in Chamdo.

   • 2020 September 22, Cate Cadell, “Exclusive: China sharply expands mass labor program in Tibet”, in Janet McBride, editor, Reuters‎^[8], archived from the original on 22 September 2020, AMERS‎^[9]:

     In eastern Tibet’s Chamdo district, where some of the earliest military-style training programs emerged, state media images from 2016 show laborers lining up in drill formation in military fatigues. In images published by state media in July this year, waitresses in military clothing are seen training at a vocational facility in the same district. Pictures posted online from the “Chamdo Golden Sunshine Vocational Training School” show rows of basic white shed-like accommodation with blue roofs. In one image, banners hanging on the wall behind a row of graduates say the labor transfer project is overseen by the local Human Resources and Social Security Department.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Chamdo.

Translations

prefecture-level city in Tibet Autonomous Region, China

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 昌都 (coeng¹ dou¹)

  Mandarin: 昌都 (zh) (Chāngdū)

• Tibetan: ཆབ་མདོ (chab mdo)

Further reading

• Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Qamdo”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[10], volume 3, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 2544, column 1: “Sometimes appears as Chhamdo, or Chamto.”