Yangpachen, 87 kilometers (54 miles) north of Lhasa, is famous for its hot springs. It was said that long time ago, before the sky and the earth was separated, the whole world was in total darkness. People living at the foot of Mt. Nyainqentanglha were suffering. One day, a golden phoenix flied to the area, determined to create brightness by sacrificing itself. It threw one of its bright eyes onto the ground. A fairy caught the eye, and then a bright lamp arose in the air. Snow capped peaks of Mt. Nyainqentanglha appeared; grassland like huge carpet emerged; happiness came into Tibetan people. However, a greedy man near Yangpachen coveted the lamp. He took a witch man's idea to sharpen his hatred into an arrow to shoot the lamp. The lamp was broken then, the pieces of the lamp dropped onto the ground, turning into hot springs and burned the man to his end. People said that the hot springs were the fairy's tears.

The town lies at high and cold plateau. However, people approaching will see some hot springs blowing out smokes going up to sky. While the surrounding area was barren and extremely cold, Yangpachen is green with grass and highland barley growing exuberantly.

Smokes emitting from the springs cover the small town. Now it has a thermoelectricity plant, green houses and hot spring bathrooms, attracting more and more tourists.