Landscapes from the top

"Nyingchi is in southeastern Xizang and has the world's most complete natural mountain vertical zones," Guo says. "The landscapes are extremely dramatic — Namcha Barwa and the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon — and it's also one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. It really captures the diversity we're trying to showcase," she explains.

The station's 26 interactive exhibits follow a simple but powerful idea: a vertical ascent.

The ground level, surrounded by exhibits on Mountain, Water, and Forest elements, aims to present Nyingchi's ecological foundation.

A hand-drawn map shows how the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates 65 million years ago created the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone, making Nyingchi one of the planet's most geologically active mountain regions.

The staircase connecting the two floors is itself an exhibit. As visitors ascend, they pass through representations of each vertical zone — from tropical monsoon rainforest below 1,100 meters to alpine scree at 4,800 meters, with animal silhouettes and interactive photo points marking each transition.

The second floor shifts focus to Farmland, Grassland, Lake, Glacier, and Sand, along with the human and ecological relationships that define life at higher elevations.

A display on rice cultivation in Metog and Zayul counties, a rotating column illustrating eight hardy meadow plants, and a section on the region's remarkable glaciers are among the highlights.