Chamdo, known as Changdu to the Chinese, sits at 3,600 meters in the middle of eastern Tibet's Kham region, which abuts present-day Sichuan to the east and Qinghai to the north. The old Tibetan town wraps around the base of an impressive hill atop which stands the Galden Jampaling Monastery. The new town spreads around the old in typical contemporary Chinese fashion.

Chamdo, Tibet's third-largest city after Lhasa and Shigatse, makes for a pleasant few days' stopover on a larger tour of the region and it's a great place to witness an urban Tibet relatively unfiltered by the massive tourist industry that has sprung up in the capital. It's also an excellent base from which to venture into the surrounding countryside, which offers dramatic vistas and changes in landscape and climate (local sayings have it that one can experience all four seasons on one mountain). Some 25 regional peaks are holy to either Tibetan Buddhists or followers of the ancient Bon faith and fantastically hued alpine lakes dot the surrounding larger region, which is dominated by the north-south spine of the Hengduan Mountains.

From Chamdo, one can head northwest to Riwoche Temple and south toward Pomda and Rowok-Tso. Overland access to Sichuan is also possible, though border crossings can occasionally be tricky (generally exiting Tibet by land is permitted, while entering is strictly regulated).
 

Chamdo (historically referred to as Kham) has been inhabited for well over 5,000 years. The archeological record shows that people were living in small villages and farming for centuries. The Bon religion, a ritual-heavy precursor to Tibetan Buddhism, which arose out of the fusion of local customs with Buddhist teachings from India, is still practiced in certain parts of the larger Chamdo region, though Buddhism is by far and away the predominant cultural and religious force, despite the attempt during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s to eradicate local "superstition" and replace it with the cult of Mao.

Chamdo remained in relative isolation from the outside world until the 13th century, when the Mongol Yuan Dynasty claimed Chamdo as part of their vast empire and installed governing officials in the region. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) inherited loose control over the area during a time of intense interest outside of Tibet in its unique brand of Buddhism. Chinese political and economic control remained a basic fact of life in Chamdo through the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and into the early years of the Republic of China; the weakness of the latter, however, enabled Tibet to win its independence in 1917 after a bloody interregnum under the Qing official-turned-warlord Zhao Erfung (also known as the "Butcher of Kham"). This period of relative independence came to an abrupt end in 1950, just one year after the Communists vanquished the Nationalist Guomindang in the struggle for greater China; battle-tested and well-organized People's Liberation Army forces easily outmaneuvered and overwhelmed the local Tibetan government in a relatively bloodless takeover. The following year would see the PRC take full control of all Tibet.

The Communists pushed modernization programs that continued certain Qing efforts to reorganize a Tibetan society that the Chinese viewed as hoplessly feudal and backwards. The direct control enjoyed by a combination of Buddhist monks and local hereditary leaders over land and livelihood was broken, modern sanitation and transportation infrastructure were introduced, and Chamdo was set on the often very rough road to "progress." Today, it is a blend of the traditionally Tibetan and the contemporary Chinese, remaining a fascinating study in contrasts.