Mǎ'ěrkāng

Maerkang lies in the valleys of the Suomo River in the eastern Tibetan highlands. The river flows west past Zhuokeji, where it meets the Xisuo, and through the settlement of Maerkang. This was part of the Gyalrong Tibetan country governed by local hereditary chiefs. Four chiefdoms in the surrounding region were Zhuokeji, Songgang, Dangba and Suomo. Their fortified residences and tall stone towers marked seats of authority above the villages, while the valleys below supported farming and the higher lands pasture.