| Official Name: | Yangbajain |
| Translit Lang1 Type: | Tibetan |
| Translit Lang1 Info: | ཡངས་པ་ཅན། |
| Translit Lang1 Info1: | yangs pa can |
| Translit Lang1 Type2: | pronunciation in IPA |
| Translit Lang1 Info2: | in Tibetan pronounced as /jaŋpatɕɛ̃/ |
| Translit Lang1 Info3: | Yangbajain |
| Translit Lang1 Type4: | THDL |
| Translit Lang1 Info4: | Yangpachen |
| Translit Lang1 Type5: | other transcriptions |
| Translit Lang1 Info5: | Yangpachän |
| Translit Lang2 Type: | Traditional/Simplified |
| Translit Lang2 Info1: | Yángbājǐng |
| Pushpin Map: | China Tibet |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Tibet Autonomous Region |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Tibet Autonomous Region |
| Subdivision Type2: | Prefecture |
| Subdivision Name2: | Lhasa |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Damxung County |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Major Nationalities |
| Population Blank1: | Tibetan |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Regional dialect |
| Population Blank2: | Tibetan language |
| Timezone: | +8 |
| Coordinates: | 30.0833°N 123°W |
Yangbajain (also spelled Yangbajing;) is a town approximately 87km (54miles) north-west of Lhasa, halfway to Damxung in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The town lies just south of the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains, in an upland lush green valley surrounded by the tents of nomads with grazing yak and sheep populating the hillside. It is the site Yangpachen Monastery, which was historically the seat of the Shamarpas of Karma Kagyü and the Yangbajing International Cosmic Ray Observatory.
The area is famous for the Yangbajain Geothermal Field, which has been harnessed to produce electricity for the capital Lhasa. There is a thermoelectric power plant on the edge of the Yangbajain field covering 20–30 square kilometers.[1] The power plant was established in 1977, and was the first development of geothermal power not only in Tibet but in the whole of China.
The Yangbajain hot springs field is at an elevation of 4290to[2] which makes it the highest elevation set of hot springs in China, and possibly the world.[3] The highest temperature inside the drilling hole is 125.5°C.[4]
The Holy Medical Spring Resort has both two indoor swimming pools and one outdoor swimming pool, all filled with hot springs water.[4] Bathing is allowed at an elevation of 4200m AMSL, likely making it the highest swimming pool in the world.
The YBJ International Cosmic Ray Observatory (羊八井国际宇宙线观测站) is located in the Yangbajing valley of the Tibetan highland, a site chosen for its high elevation at 4300 meters above sea level.[5] Collaborating institutes includes the INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and various Chinese and Japanese universities.[6] [7] The KOSMA 3-m submillimeter telescope has been relocated to a nearby site and renamed CCOSMA.