EKD01 Explore The Last Shangrila – Yading Nature Reserve Chengdu-Kangding-Yading-Danba-Chengdu 13 Days Circle Tour

While traversing the Western Sichuan Plain, drive to Hailuogou National Glacierg via Chengdu-Ya’an express way. On the half way, visit Mountain Meng Ding, it is the birthplace of the world’s tea culture, as well as being home to the earliest tea plantations ever recorded in written Chinese, according to the earliest legend of tea planting by Wu Lizhen (200 BC-53 AD), from Mingshan County, Ya’an, Sichuan. Living at the top of Meng Ding Mountain, the Taoist was the first person to plant tea in the world, and was known as ”the ancestor of tea planting”. The altitude, soil and climate of Meng Ding Mountain are very suitable for growing tea, so as far back as over 2,000 years ago, in the Western Han Dynasty, ”the ancestor of tea planting”, Wu Lizhen, began to plant domesticated wild tea, symbolizing the beginning of a human-plant tea history. Mengshan tea has long been regarded as a magic bullet for curing diseases among people, so it got the name of ”Holy Tea” and Meng Ding Mountain has been hailed as ”the Hometown of Holy Tea”.

Hailuogou National Glacier and Forest Park with its entrance located at the Moxi Ancient Town. We advise you to buy some snacks or have a quick lunch before entering the national park, because it’s inconvenient to have meals inside the national park. Take the sightseeing bus to Camp 3 (1 hour), from there you can either take the cable car (CNY 150, round trip) to camp 4 to view the large icefall of the glacier or hiking downwards to the beautiful glacier relics, to choose which totally depends on weather. If weather is good, to Camp 4 is advised, otherwise, glacier relics are also very good choice. The last cable car from Camp 4 down to Camp 3 departs at 4 PM and the last sightseeing bus leave Camp 3 to entrance departs at 5PM, so make sure you won’t miss anything. There is one 4 star hotel at Camp 3 if you want to stay inside the national park, though it’s more expensive, yet you can not only enjoy the famous Hailuogou open air hot spring spa at Camp 2 surrounded by the snowcapped mountain but also view the golden sunrise over the Mt. Gongga next morning just through the window of the hotel.

Drive to Kangdin via Yajiageng Red Rock Beach Park, Yajiagengis part of the National Scenic Area of Gongga Mountain and is also the boundary mountain of Kangding and Luding County. Red stone created the magic of Gongga Mountain – the first red rock beach in the world. On the banks of the glacier, each stone is covered with a red coat, and the red rocks that accumulate on both sides of the river turn into a flowing red color, which flows down the clear glacier water. The color is bright red, endless, and magnificent. Red stone was born in ancient times. Like the dinosaurs and ancient ferns in the ancient ice age, red stone already existed before human beings were born. Today, the existing red stone is extremely rare. From the perspective of the distribution area, the Red Rock in the Gongga Yanzigou is the world’s largest. Kangding (Dartsendo), the largest city and capital of Ganzi (Garze) Tibetan Prefecture, in western Sichuan Province. Historically it was an important business center between China and Tibet on the Tea-horse-road. It is the center of Kham Tibet, a religious, economy center of Sichuan. After lunch, Visit Muge Tso Lake, about 26km away from Kangding. Muge Tso Lake covers an area of 500 square km. At an altitude of approximately 3’800m.it is the biggest alpine lake in northwest Sichuan, it is a national protection area. Afterwards continue drive pass the 4218m Zheduo mountain to Xinduqiao-the photographer’s paradise. Xinduqiao Town is a wonderful fairyland known as the ”Light and Shadow World” and is also a great location for photography lovers. The magical land has endless grasslands, winding streams, golden cypress, rolling hills dotted and cattle and sheep that graze peacefully.

At Xinduqiao, you can catch a glimpse of the Gongga Mountain peak and Millennium Temple. Visiting Xinduqiao during the different seasons you will capture the changing colors of the village. During spring and summer Xinduqiao is blooming with amazing colors. By the time autumn approaches the whole scenery is red and yellow with the leaves ready to fall. In the cold winter you can expect to capture fantastic snow scenes. Continue drive to Daocheng via Litang. We’ll pass two 4300m high mountains-the Jianziwan & Kazila mountain. Lunch at Litang. With its 4010m altitude, the county is with no doubt the highest one in the world. In addition to its beautiful scenery & spectacular local Tibetan customs, another tourist attraction is the Hose-racing Festival in every August. Another 150km ride to Daocheng will be continued. Daocheng is a county that you will enjoy because of its rich soil & Tibetan culture. And a good place for recharging yourself before Yading. You may relax yourself by bathing at the hot spring & the Tibetan local dancing show. Daocheng county is of mountain plateau, including the Bowa Moun-tain and the Chitu River. On both banks of the river are broad pastures and stretches of forest. Mt. Bowa, grand and scenic,is sharply distinct during the four seasons: in spring and summer, azaleas bloom to vie each other for beauty, in autumn, leaves as red as flame cover the trees, while in winter, snow clothes all and gleams.

Get up early for a 110km ride to Yading as the road condition from Shangri-la tow to Yading is bad, and what is more important is you still will tour the Yading Valley. One more thing will amaze you in spite of the view is the our young kids. Whenever you pass by, they will stop by the road & solute to you! This must be their way to greet our tourists. So please prepare some small gifts for them. After reach Yading, you’ll enjoy the 2-hour-horse ride to Luorongniuchang and anther 2-hour-ride back to Chonggu monastery. We would like you enjoy the ride but please walk for a while sometime during the horse-riding as you may mot able to walk! Another chance to stay at the local family tonight but it might not has the same good condition as Daocheng’s.

Try to get up early in the morning and go to Chonggu Temple for the stunning sunrise, then take the local battery cart to Luorong Pasture, it is nestled on a high and flat valley encircled by the three sacred mountains with expansive meadows and surrounding forests. The pasture is dotted with brooks, lakes and the Gongga River cuts through the grassland posting a majestic view. Then hike up to Milk Lake and Five color lake (altitude 4,700m) (roughly 6 hours round trip by hiking) or you can take the horseback riding to Sheshengya first, then trek up to Milk Lake & Five Color Lake (about 4-5 hours, the horse riding fee is on your own). It is a challenging trekking, but its all worth for the spectacular scenery. Later afternoon get back to Yading village and take the local sightseeing bus back to Shangri-la town where you will meet the driver and head to Daocheng for overnight.

Drive back from Daocheng to Yajiang via Litang on the half way. Have lunch in Litang, visit Litang Monastery and Litang Old Town in the afternoon. Litang Monastery was built in 1580 by the 3rd Dalai Lama, soon it became one the biggest monastery in Eastern Tibet with more than 4000 monks. The monastery is dedicated to the great Maitreya, the Buddha of the future. In Chinese, the name of the monastery is translated to “forever young monastery”, seems to suggest the mysterious Litang lover of the 6th Dalai Lama and their hopeless love. The monastery is of Gelugpa School, it comprises Jo-Khang (the temple of Buddha), Tso-Chen (Assembly Hall), Tsong-kha-pa Temple (in maintenance), Faxiang (the college) and Tantric Hall, it also preserves treasures like sutras written in Gold, etc. Being a romantic poet, the 6th Dalai Lama wrote one famous poem about Litang: oh you white crane, lend me your wings, I will not linger far, just fly to Litang and back. After his disappearance in 1707, his followers believed this poem has foreshadowed his reincarnation in Litang: the 7th Dalai Lama(1708~1757) therefor was found in the house of Ren-khang who later ruled Tibet for a half century. Today, some auspicious signs are still visible (e.g Lion milk traces on the pillar head) inside Ren-khang. This house is also the birthplace of another 6 important Rinpoches(living Buddha).Ren-khang also has a private museum and a meditation retreat. Around Ren-khang, you may explore the most traditional town of Litang. Among the winding lanes, you can find Litang Folk Museum, Holy Land Youth Book Coffee, Cangyang Village Restaurant, Namtso-Dagye Tibetan Medicine/Incense Workshop, etc.

The scenery is absolutely fabulous en the route to Tagong grassland! Tagong monastery (altitude 3,730m), a nice example of a typical Tibetan monastery, with its statues, painted walls, thangkas, incents smells and plenty of monks dressed in their carmine robes. Continue a 113km drive, you will arrive at Danba– a county where you may see different Tibetan people. Because the local Tibetans here are called “Jiarong Tibetan”. This is what you come here for. Furthermore, you may have the very good chance to enjoy the Jiarong Tibetan customs & stock house slides show by the researchers. A legendary place with plenty of beautiful scenery which is famous of ‘Country of Women’. Danba is also the “East Female Country” in history. Danba Tibetan Villages, a retreat from the world, are known as the most beautiful villages all over China, it is the hometown of Jiarong Tibetans in Sichuan Province. Jiaju Tibetan Village is known as one of the six most beautiful ancient villages in China, is the most unique tourist attraction in Danba County with more than 140 families residing here. The houses are located in the sunny slope of the mountains. Its name, Jiaju, means ‘a hundred families’. It is always the highlight of a Danba tour, during which you will not only enjoy the marvellous nature beauty, but also experience the unique culture of the local Tibetans in Sichuan. Drive to Zhonglu Tibetan Village for overnight.

Wake up early and you may take a walk around at Zhonglu Tibetan Village for peace of mind. You may also discover Tibetan culture and life. Afterwards, set out to visit Suopo Ancient Towers. Suopo has 84 ancient watchtowers remained, are the most concentration of watchtowers in the world. The exteriors are built with stone to make them as solid as they could be, while the inside facilities are mostly made of wood. These watchtowers have angular shape and slip walls with wide bottoms and narrow tops in the height ranging from 20 meters to 60 meters. Watchtowers were originally constructed to watch out threatens and attacks from the outside world. Some were built to store valuable goods, or were used as a place of worship. Zhonglu Tibetan Village has an altitude of 2,200 m, is located in Danba County. Zhonglu in Tibetan means worship place together of human and God. Zhonglu Tibetan village has many attractions such as historic watchtowers and many local houses of Tibetan residents.

Drive to visit Mt. Siguniang, hiking in Changping Valley, one of the valleys at Mount Siguniang National park which are famous for the four snow-capped peaks and the three beautiful valleys stretching from Siguniangshan town with the landscapes of alpine forest, grasslands, and lakes etc. Mt. Siguniang consists of 3 big valleys, namely Shuangqiao Valley, Changping Valley and Haizi Valley; as Shuangqiao Valley is possible to visit mostly by sightseeing bus with some good hiking trails, Changping Valley and Haizi Valley are suitable for enthusiastic hikers, both valleys take one full day to explore by foot, horse-riding service (self-paid) is available throughout those two valleys also. Bring yourself with some water and snack on the way because there is no restaurant inside the valleys. If you choose hiking, today must be a tiring day, but the amazing sceneries on the way definitely pay off at end of the day. Most tourists praise that those 3 valleys plus the peaks compose the most beautiful picture s in western Sichuan.

After breakfast, we will retrace back to Chengdu via Maobiling Ridge, a place where we could enjoy the full view of the Mount Siguniang. Continue drive to Wolong Shenshuping Panda Base is also known as China Giant Panda Garden. The base is highly simulated to Giant Panda’s habitat hidden deep into mountains. Wolong Shenshuping Panda Base (China Giant Panda Garden), a research center newly constructed after Wenchuan Earthquake, is about 22 kilometers from the former site – Wolong Hetaoping Base and covers a total construction area of nearly 20,000 square meters, about 20 times the area of Hetaoping Base. This project is supported by Hong Kong SAR Government and designed according to Green Samsung standards. From the perspective of appearance, the open and spacious base is like a villa in Tibetan and Qiang minority style, which allows a large activity space for pandas. Afterwards drive to back to Chengdu.