Pelyul County

Baiyu County Pelyul Gompa

Pelyul County (or Pelyul- དཔལ་ཡུལ་རྫོང་།) is located in Kham Tibet and is one of eighteen counties of Ganzi Autonomous prefecture in Western Sichuan Province. In Tibetan, Pelyul means “a holy and happy place.” Pelyul is on the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region and is roughly 3,000 meters above sea level. …

Dartsendo (Kangding)

Dartsendo (དར་རྩེ་མདོ། ) or Dardo (དར་མདོ། ) is a major gateway city on the eastern side of the Tibetan Plateau. Also known as Kangding (康定) in Chinese, it rises 2,600 meters above sea level and is the first Tibetan city you come to when traveling west from Chengdu. Kangding teeters on the Eastern edge of …

Chengdu

Panda base in Chengdu

Chengdu is the main gateway city to Tibet, meaning that most travelers will spend some time here before heading onwards in their journey. Located in Sichuan province, this city is also the biggest and most important city in Southwest China.  With a population of 14 million in the greater Chengdu …

Jiachu’s Homestay

In the shadow of the famous Konka Mountain, lies the Yulongxi Village. It is in this majestic setting that one can find Jiachu’s Homestay. The owner, Jiachu, has spent his entire life in the Kham Tibetan Region, making him a local expert. It all started one day when Jiachu was asked …

Tenpa’s Homestay

In the quiet little Tibetan village of Duorang, travellers can find Tenpa’s Homestay. The namesake – Tenpa – is from the Kham Minya area. Tenpa studied English for few years, so he speaks fluent English, Chinese, and Tibetan. He has been working as a guide and driver in the Kham …

Dolma La Restaurant

Stepping inside the Dolma La Tibetan restaurant, one is immediately taken by the richly coloured wooden walls and furniture. I spied the stairs leading up to the second floor dining area and couldn’t resist climbing them to discover what lay above me. Upstairs the  natural light filters in through the …

Zhongde Tan Cafe

Zhongde is located in town of Ruoergai, Aba prefecture, of the Sichuan province. For the past year, two Tibetan university graduates have been running their unique coffee bookshop here – Zhongde. Yangtan and Pabazu are are full of passion, pride, and love for their culture. These brave grads decided to …

Malaya Tibetan Restaurant

The Malaya Tibetan Restaurant was founded in 2006.  Located in the heart of the town of Kangding, it is the oldest and best Tibetan Restaurant in town. The restaurant is run by a young and knowledgeable Tibetan guy – Xirao – who is from Minyak, in the Kham region. Xirao …

Bollywood Restaurant

Tucked away in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan, is the Bollywood Restaurant. Run by a local Tibetan named Wanjia, you will find this bustling eatery with a colorful flare serving up Indian rice bowls and nam bread. Yet don’t be fooled, as some of these dishes, while authentic to Indian …

Tewaga Tibetan Restaurants

There are two Tewaga Tibetan Restaurants for travellers to enjoy. One in Tiewu (Amdo Region), and the other in Chengdu, operated by the same management. One of the owners, Asang, is from North East Tibet. He was born a small village in a stunning valley called “Zhagana”. It is considered …

Charu’s Coworking Space

If you make your way to the 16th floor of a seemingly unspectacular office building, you will discover a unique space that appears to be a cafe, but doubles as a shared coworking space for those looking to escape the office. Filled with books and artwork, an extrovert might find …

A Re’s Restaurant

A Re is the name of a very well known chain of restaurants in Chengdu, but also that of the business owner. The namesake herself was born in a very alluring and remote Tibetan valley, Danba, in the Kham Tibetan Region. A Re didn’t get the chance to attend school …

Nyiden (Yading)

Yading Village is small rural establishment in Daocheng County of the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. Located on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Yading village is 3,700 meters above sea level. Yading village and its surrounding sights are part of the Shangri-la Natural Tourist Zone. …

Yachen Monastery

History of Yachen Monastery Hidden away in a remote valley between Garze (Ganzi) town and Baiyu town, Sichuan, is the isolated Yachen Monastery ( ཡ་ཆེན་དགོན་པ།). Established in 1985 by a Nyingma Rinpoche, the current population of this monastic community is approximately 17,000 monks and nuns, with nuns holding the majority. Despite …

Chaktreng (Xiangcheng)

Located in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Region of Sichuan province in China, the town of Xiangcheng (乡城) is in a scenic valley which stands at an altitude of 3,200 meters. Xiangcheng Town is also referred to as Chaktreng Town (ཕྱག་ཕྲེང་།) in Tibetan, which means ‘rosaries in Buddha’s hands’. From a …

Lhagang (Tagong)

A small, picturesque town located in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of western Sichuan Province, Lhagang (ལྷ་སྒང་།) is home to scenic grasslands, devoted monks and Tibetan nomads with their thousands of thick-coated yaks. Lhagang, also known as Tagong (塔公) in Chinese, is situated in the ancient Kham region in southwest …

Sungchu (Songpan )

Located in the North of Sichuan Province, with a population over 68,000, is Sungchu (ཟུང་ཆུ). Until recently it was an agriculturally dominated community, but with an influx of foreign students and travelers to and from Huanglong, Sungchu, known in Chinese Songpan County (松潘), has added tourism to being one of its …

Sershul (Shiqu)

Shiqu Town (石渠), also known as Sershul (སེར་ཤུལ།), Serxu, Dzachuka, or Shiquis, is a town in Shiqu County in the Garze Autonomous Prefecture in the northern part of the Chinese Sichuan Province. Shiqu County is spread over 25,000 square kilometers and lies approximately 4,200 meters above sea level on average. …

Sertar (Seda)

Seda (色达) is located at an elevation of about 4,000 meters in a remote valley on the Tibetan Plateau, in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the western part of Sichuan province in China. The Tibetans know Seda by the name of Sertar (གསེར་ཐར།), which means Golden Horse. Though Sertar …

Sertar Larung Gar (school & monastery)

Population Explosion at Sertar Larung Gar Known around the world as the largest school for Tibetan Buddhism, Sertar Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Institute and Monastery (གསེར་རྟ་བླ་རུང་དགོན་པ།) has caused the population of its surrounding town to grow exponentially in recent years. This monastic community is located in a remote and treeless …