Dumchele

Dumchele or Dhumtsele (Chinese: 都木契列; pinyin: Dōu mù qì liè, Tibetan: སྡུམ་མཚེས་ལེ་, Wylie: sdum mtshes le, THL: dum tsé lé) is a village and a grazing area in the Skakjung pastureland, which runs along the right bank of Indus River from China-administered Dumchele and Tsoskar Lake in south to India-administered Dungti-Loma in north, near the Line of Actual Control between Ladakh and Tibet. Dumchele and the area around it have been under Chinese administration since 1962 but claimed by India. The locale is in the disputed Demchok sector, about 50 kilometers northwest from Demchok and 50 kilometers southeast of Chushul. It lies on a historic trade route between Ladakh and Rutog, with an erstwhile border pass at Chang La or Shingong La (Chinese: 新贡拉; pinyin: Xīn gòng lā) to the southeast of Dumchele.

To the west of the Chang La pass, flows the Kigunaru River (Chinese: 基古纳鲁河; pinyin: Jī gǔ nà lǔ hé) forming a rich grazing ground that is also called Kigunaru. Another name for the river is Shingong Lungpa. In recent decades, some of the waters of the Kigunaru river have been flowing towards Dumchele and gathering into a endorheic lake.

Until 1962 India maintained a 'forward' post at Chang La, a day's march from Dumchele. In the 1962 war, China attacked the post and forced India to withdraw from the entire Kigunaru river basin. At the present time, China maintains a border trading market at Dumchele and a military post nearby.