Chumbi Valley

Chumbi Valley, Chinese (Pinyin) Chumubi Shangu, (Wade-Giles romanization) Ch’u-mu-pi Shan-kue, valley in the eastern Great Himalaya Range of the southern Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is situated on a small south-pointing protuberance of territory between Bhutan (east) and Sikkim state, India (west). Formed by the passage of the Amo (Torsa) River, which rises below Tang Pass and flows south into Bhutan, the valley has an average elevation of 9,500 feet (2,900 metres), forested slopes, and a pleasant climate most of the year.

Formerly in Sikkim, Chumbi Valley became part of Tibet in 1792. The inhabitants of the valley are called Promowa and are of Tibetan descent. Extensive trade in wool, yak tails, and borax passed through the valley after British negotiations resulted in the establishment of a trade agency at Xarsingma (Yadong) and a treaty between the British and Tibet in 1904. Since 1951 the valley has been under the control of China, which continued trade with India until 1962, when a 1954 treaty between China and India over the status of Tibet expired, and a border dispute between the two countries erupted.