In the 19th century, the "Tashi" or Panchen Lama had temporal power over Tashilhunpo Monastery and three small districts, though not over the town of Shigatse itself, which was administered by two Dzongpön (Prefects) appointed from Lhasa.

[5] However, there were only one or two Ambans representing the Qing (Manchu) Chinese emperor residing in Lhasa, directing a little garrison, and their power installed since 1728, progressively declined to end-up as observer at the eve of their expulsion in 1912 by the 13th Dalai Lama.

[8] Samzhubzê lies on flat terrain surrounded by high mountains, and the urban area is located just south of the Yarlung Zangbo River.

[9] The city's administrative area ranges in latitude from 29° 07' to 29° 09' N and in longitude from 88° 03' to 89° 08' E. Samzhubzê has a monsoon-influenced, alpine version of a humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), with frosty, very dry winters and warm, wet summers.

[1] Barely any precipitation falls from November to March, when the diurnal temperature variation can frequently exceed 20 °C (36 °F).

Until the Chinese arrived in the 1950s, the "Tashi" or Panchen Lama had temporal power over three small districts, though not over Samzhubzê itself, which was administered by a dzongpön (general) appointed from Lhasa.

The dzong, which in the 17th century served as a model for the construction of the Potala Palace, is set to become a museum for Tibetan culture.