Gyirong County (Tibetan: སྐྱིད་གྲོང་རྫོང་།; Chinese: 吉隆县; also transliterated as Kyirong or Jilong) is a county of the Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is famous for its mild climatic conditions and its abundant vegetation which is unusual for the Tibetan plateau. The capital lies at Zongga (Gungthang). Its name in Tibetan, Dzongka, means "mud walls".
It is one of the four counties that comprise the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (Kyirong, Dinggyê, Nyalam, and Tingri).
In 1945, Peter Aufschnaiter counted 26 temples and monasteries which covered the area of Gyirong and the neighboring La-sdebs. The most famous temple of Gyirong is the Byams-sprin lha-khang, erected by the famous Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo as one of the four Yang-´dul temples in the 7th century A.D. During the 11th century, the famous South Asian scholar Atisha visited Gyirong. Gyirong was one of the favorite meditation places of the Tibetan Yogin Milarepa.
The local Kyirong language has been researched thoroughly and folk literature of this region was collected and published during the 1980's.
Being downstream of many glaciers on the Poiqu River, Gyirong is vulnerable to flooding.
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Special places
Of outstanding importance are the Byams-sprin lha-khang temple, which was built in the 7th century AD, and the ´Phags-pa lha-khang temple. The ´Phags-pa lha-khang formerly contained one of the holiest Avalokiteshvara statues of Tibet, the statue of the Ārya Va-ti bzang-po. This statue was brought to India in 1959 and is now kept in Dharamsala.
Of some importance is the bKra-shis bdam-gtan gling monastery, founded by Yeshe Gyaltsen (1713–1793), who was one of the teachers of the 8th Dalai Lama.
Lake Paiku is in this county. This is a 27 km (17 mi) long, slightly salty lake surrounded by snowy peaks 5,700 to 6,000 m (18,700 to 19,700 ft) high.
Another place is Sanjen Valley, located at the foot of the Sanchen Glaciers and Yangra Mountain. It is also called a Hidden Valley of Tibet. It is very small valley used seasonally by the Nomadic peoples of Nepal and Tibet.
Administration divisions
Gyirong County is divided into 2 towns and 4 townships.
Transportation
Up to 1960, one of the main trade routes between Nepal and Tibet passed through this region. Easily accessible from Nepal, it was used several times as an entrance gate for military actions from the site of Nepal against Tibet. In 2017, Chinese soldiers began building a new road on the Tibetan side of the border, and intend to continue construction into Nepal via Rasuwa pending approval from Kathmandu.
A possibility of a transborder railway link along a similar route (Gyirong to Kathmandu via Rasuwa) is considered as well.
Gyirong Port was modernised in the 2010s, becoming a modern logistics hub at the Nepal–China border. The area was devastated in the 2026 Nepal floods.