Kham ཁམས Dartsedo

Kangding is a city and the location of the seat of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan province of Southwest China. The area that the city occupies is administratively part of Kangding County, and it has around 100,000 inhabitants. Kangding is also known as Dartsedo or Dardo. Historically, the town was known as Tachienlu or Tatsienlu from the Chinese transliteration of the Tibetan name Dartsedo.

Dartsedo has always been the gateway to the Tibetan world. The town itself is roughly 40% Tibetan, 40% Chinese with the remaining 20% being other minorities such as Qiang, Yi and Hui. Everything east of Kangding is inhabited primarily by Han Chinese while everything west of Kangding is predominantly Tibetan.

From 1939 until 1950, the city was the capital of a short-lived province of Xikang. The Province comprised all of modern day Garnze prefecture as well as all of modern day Chamdo prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region. In 1950, the province was divided along the Yangtze River. Everything east of the river was incorporated into Sichuan province, while everything west of the river was incorporated into the Tibet Autonomous Region. Prior to the early 1900's, Kangding/Dartsendo was the capital of the Chakla Kingdom, one of the 5 kingdoms of eastern Tibet.

Kangding is a city and the location of the seat of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan province of Southwest China. The area that the city occupies is administratively part of Kangding County, and it has around 100,000 inhabitants. Kangding is also known as Dartsedo or Dardo. Historically, the town was known as Tachienlu or Tatsienlu from the Chinese transliteration of the Ti…  (read more)