Chamdo (Tibetan: ; Wylie: chab-mdo; officially: Qamdo; Chinese: 昌都; Pinyin: Chāngdū), population about 86.280 (1999)[1] in Kham in the eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, is Tibet's third largest city (after Lhasa and Shigatse).[2] It is located about 480km (as the crow flies) from Lhasa, on the road the distance covers 1120 km (southern route) or 1030 km (northern route).[3] It is at an altitude of 3,230 metres (10,600 ft).
At the turn of the 20th century it had a population of about 12,000, a quarter of whom were monks.[4] Chamdo, and the region around, it is the centre for the fierce Khampa tribesmen.
Chamdo was visited by Tsongkhapa in 1373 who suggested a monastery be built there. Galden Jampaling Monastery was constructed between 1436 and 1444 by a disciple of Tsongkhapa, Jansem Sherab Zangpo.[5] It is also known as the Changbalin or Qiangbalin Si Monastery. At its height it contained five main temples and housed some 2,500 monks.[6] It was destroyed in 1912 but the main hall (which was used as a prison) and two other buildings survived, and it was rebuilt in 1917 after the Tibetan army retook Chamdo. It now houses about 800 monks.
