Rikaze

In the eighth century, the Tibetan Empire of King Trisong Detsen invited the Indian monk Padmasambhava into Tibet to build the Samye monastery, passing through the place of Rikaze where the practice of preaching, and predicated Lhasa as the center of snowy plateau followed by Shigatse. In the eleventh century during the Sakya dynasty, Shigatse had initially begun urbanization. In October 1959, Rikaze prefecture was established. In 1970, Rikaze Prefecture was abolished and Rikaze District was established. On 26 June 2014, by the State Council of the People's Republic of China agreed, the original Rikaze area abolished, the establishment of prefecture-level Shigatse city, the original county-level Shigatse city merged into the Sangzhuzi District. This was the second prefecture-level city established in the Tibet Autonomous Region. …

Shigatse has an elevation-influenced monsoonal humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dwb, Trewartha Dclo) When using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm, Shigatse has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwb, Trewartha Dolo).

The Lhasa–Shigatse Railway connects Shigatse Railway Station with Lhasa and further connects with Qinghai via Qinghai–Tibet Railway. It takes about three hours to travel between Lhasa and Shigatse by train. It is possible to get back to Lhasa within the same day by train. Shigatse Peace Airport began operations on 30 October 2010 after an Airbus A319 landed safely, making it Tibet's fifth commercial airport. It is located 43 kilometres from Samzhubzê District at Jangdam Township at an elevation of 3,782 metres. The airport will be capable of supporting 230,000 passengers annually by 2020. Shigatse Tingri Airport opened in December 2022. China National Highway 318 and China National Highway 219 are the main roads in and out of Shigatse.