Gar

This modern Chinese-built town is named after the Sengge Zangbo river, the main headwater of the Indus River, on whose banks it is located. It is called "Sengge Zangbo" or "Sengge Khabab" in Tibetan and "Shiquanhe" in Chinese. Being the headquarters of Ngari Prefecture (which is known in Chinese under the Sinicized form of its name, Ali Prefecture), the town is also commonly known in English as Ngari or Ali (Chinese: 阿里; pinyin: Ālǐ) Town; this is what many guidebooks use as the primary name for the town. In Tibetan, Ngari is only the name for the prefecture, and not the town. Being the county seat of the Gar County, it is also referred to as Gar (simplified Chinese: 噶尔; traditional Chinese: 噶爾; pinyin: Ga'er). it may be labeled that way on maps.

Even though Shiquanhe is a modern town, its location has been of significant importance in history. Not only is it situated in a wide valley of Sengge Zangbo with an abundance of cultivable land, it also lies along a trade route between Gar Gunsa and Rudok, which continues on to Ladakh in the west via the Pangong Lake, and, in the other direction, to Lhasa via the Mayum La pass. The region was historically known as Rala (Chinese: 热拉). (See Strachey's map.) During the Tibetan Era of Fragmentation in the 10th century, Kyide Nyimagon, a descendant of emperor Langdarma, came to Ngari in the midst of chaos in Central Tibet and started a new kingdom in Rala. He is said to have started by building a Kharmar (reddish fort) in the region, also called Ralajong. Later he expanded into the Sutlej Valley and Burang by marrying a princess of Burang. This kingdom came to be known as Guge-Purang. …

Shiquanhe has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWk) with short, very mild summers and very cold, dry winters.