World's tallest tree in Asia found: Tibet

This California redwood in the Grove of Giants looks tallest so must be the oldest, too.

Tallest tree in Asia: 335 ft

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon is the world's largest terrestrial canyon — longer than even Mexico's Copper Canyon or the lesser U.S. Grand Canyon in Arizona and deeper than every other known canyon on land. (The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean surpasses it [and the deepest one in the USA, the underwater crater in Chesapeake Bay?]).

The canyon is named after the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which adventurers have dubbed the "Everest of rivers," because it is mostly inaccessible and has the highest average elevation, at 13,000 feet (4,000 meters), of any major river on Earth.

The headwaters of the Yarlung Tsangpo are located in the west of the Tibet Autonomous Region at Angsi Glacier, and the river then meanders east across the Tibetan Plateau before bending sharply southwestward to join up with the Brahmaputra River.

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Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon is 314 miles (505 kilometers) long, which is 37 miles (60 km) longer than the Grand Canyon.

It includes some of the most rugged and least-explored places in the world, including a treacherous section in the southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region, where it passes between two towering peaks, Namcha Barwa, which stands 25,530 feet (7,782 m) tall, and Gyala Peri, which sits slightly lower, at 23,930 feet (7,294 m).

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Tree spirits are called dryads

The canyon dips to its deepest point along this stretch, reaching 19,715 feet (6,009 m) from top to bottom, or three times as deep as the Grand Canyon.

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon has an average depth of 7,440 feet (2,270 m). The canyon formed when tectonic forces pushed up Earth's crust around 3 million years ago and steepened the path of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which then caused massive erosion, Live Science previously reported.

And as if it weren't breaking enough records already, the canyon is also home to the tallest tree ever discovered in Asia — a 335-foot-tall (102 m) cypress that would overshadow the Statue of Liberty.

A research team from Peking University measured the tree in May 2023 as part of an ecological survey to help preserve the unique ecosystem of the Tibet Autonomous Region [which is claimed by China].

Gran Abuelo in Chile is thought to be oldest tree

It's unclear which species the tree belongs to, although Chinese state media publications at the time suggested it could be a Himalayan cypress (Cupressus torulosa) or a Tibetan cypress (Cupressus gigantea). Here is a full-length picture of Asia's tallest tree. More:

• Yarlung Tsangpo: The deepest canyon on land hides a tree taller than the Statue of Liberty
• Kelly Ani, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly