藏A 12345
藏 plates: Tibet (Xizang), and what the letters mean
Facts checked
A plate beginning 藏 was registered in Tibet (Xizang), a autonomous region. The character is Zàng, said roughly “dzahng”. 藏 is the second character of 西藏 Xīzàng and comes from Tsang (gTsang), the central Tibetan region around Shigatse. 西藏 reads as 'the western Zang'.
The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 藏A belongs to Lhasa, and 9 further letters are recorded below.
The colour of the plate is a separate fact from the characters: it says what kind of vehicle carries it, and the characters say nothing about it. The colour guide sets out what each of the 7 colours licenses.
Key facts
| Plate character | 藏 “dzahng” |
|---|---|
| Place | Tibet (Xizang) |
| Kind | autonomous region |
| Capital | Lhasa |
| City letters | 10 |
| Why this character | 藏 is the second character of 西藏 Xīzàng and comes from Tsang (gTsang), the central Tibetan region around Shigatse. 西藏 reads as 'the western Zang'. |
The city letters
- 藏A Lhasa
- 藏B Qamdo (Chamdo)
- 藏C Shannan (Lhoka)
- 藏D Xigazê (Shigatse)
- 藏E Nagqu
- 藏F Ngari Prefecture
- 藏G Nyingchi
- 藏H Vehicle administration office at Tianquan County, Sichuan
- 藏J Vehicle administration office at Golmud, Qinghai
- 藏O Xizang public security
| Prefix | Letter | City | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 藏A | A | Lhasa | |
| 藏B | B | Qamdo (Chamdo) | |
| 藏C | C | Shannan (Lhoka) | |
| 藏D | D | Xigazê (Shigatse) | |
| 藏E | E | Nagqu | |
| 藏F | F | Ngari Prefecture | |
| 藏G | G | Nyingchi | |
| 藏H | H | Vehicle administration office at Tianquan County, Sichuan | Retired. 藏H was limited to vehicles of Tibet-government bodies based inside Sichuan. |
| 藏J | J | Vehicle administration office at Golmud, Qinghai | Retired. 藏J was limited to vehicles of Tibet-government bodies based inside Qinghai. |
| 藏O | O | Xizang public security | Retired police series. |
Tibet (Xizang) plates: questions people ask
- What does 藏 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
- 藏 (Zàng, "dzahng") is the abbreviation for Tibet (Xizang). 藏 is the second character of 西藏 Xīzàng and comes from Tsang (gTsang), the central Tibetan region around Shigatse. 西藏 reads as 'the western Zang'.
- Which city is 藏A?
- Lhasa. The letter A goes to the seat of government in almost every province, and the remaining letters were assigned to the other issuing offices.
- How many plate letters does Tibet (Xizang) use?
- 10 are recorded here, A to O. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.
Related
Sources for Tibet (Xizang)
- Wikipedia (Chinese), 中华人民共和国民用机动车号牌 (Civil motor-vehicle registration plates of the People's Republic of China). Read . Carries the complete province-by-province table of issuing-office letters, with the retired and renumbered series footnoted to Chinese news and public-security sources. Used as a finding aid; wording here is our own.
- Wikipedia, Vehicle registration plates of China. Read . English list of prefixes; the article flags its own list as incomplete, so it is used here to cross-check the Chinese table rather than as the primary record.