Mt. Yala

Yala Mountain Kham Tibet

Geography Located near the border of Daofu County, Danba County, and Kangding County, of Ganzi Autonomous Prefecture, Yala Mountain (བཞག་བྲ།)is one of the most popular mountain treks in the Sichuan region. With snow covered peaks year round, Mt. Yala has an elevation of 5,820 meters and offers several trek options …

Manigangou

Located in Ganzi Prefecture in Sichuan Province in southwest China, Manigangou (མ་ཎི་གད་མགོ།)is a small yet active town at an elevation of 3,950 meters. It is a town exhibiting typical nomad culture with Tibetan herdsmen riding on horses, Khampas on flashy motorcycles passing by and people enjoying drinks in wooden Tibetan …

Barkham (Maerkang)

The prefectural capital of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, sometimes known as Barkham (འབར་ཁམས), Maerkang (马尔康) holds a mostly Han Chinese population of around 50,000, with some Tibetans as well. Because of its elevation, Maerkang has a unique climate resting somewhere between subtropical and humid continental, where monsoons are …

Lithang (Litang)

Lying at the edge of a vast grassland valley, Lithang (ལི་ཐང་།) is the administrative hub of Litang County. Also known in Chinese as Litang town (理塘) , the town is situated in the southwest of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. Litang is a historic town at an altitude of …

Lhamo Gompa(Langmusi)

Kirti Monastery Langmusi

Different Faiths in Langmusi The Sichuan-Gansu border runs right through the center of Lhamo (ལྷ་མོ།) town. Here, Islamic and Buddhist faiths live peaceably together in this monastic village that hosts two Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhist monasteries as well as an Islamic Mosque. Lhamo offers visitors a look into both religions and cultures. …

Garze (Ganzi)

Lying in the vast expanse of the beautiful Ganzi Valley (甘孜) at an altitude of 3,800 meters, surrounded by the majestic Chola Mountain, green hills dotted with yaks and rocky ridges, is the active Ganzi town. Ganzi town (also known as Garnze, Ganze, and Kandze (དཀར་མཛེས་རྫོང་།)) is the capital of …

Derge (Dege )

Derge (སྡེ་དགེ ) in the native tongue which means land of mercy in Tibetan, is located in the Garze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture in the Kham area of the Tibetan Plateau. The town is regarded as the cultural hub of the Kham region in the northwest of Sichuan province, close to the border with …

Dawu ( Daofu)

Prayer wheel and shawl

An agricultural region dotted with big, beautiful Tibetan houses, Dawu (རྟའུ།) lies in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Sichuan Province, China. Dawu, known as Daofu (道孚) in the Chinese language, is accessible by road from Kangding (219 kilometers) and Chengdu (585 kilometers). Daofu region lies at an average altitude …

Dabpa (Daocheng)

Daocheng Tibet

Dapba (འདབ་པ།) is located in Daocheng County in the Garze Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest Sichuan, close to the border of Northwest Yunnan. The town is at an altitude of 3,750 meters and is the best starting point for the Tibetan areas of western and southern Sichuan. Dapba is known as Daocheng …

Rongtrak (Danba)

Danba Kham Tibet

Rongtrak (རོང་བྲག), also known in Chinese as Danba County (丹巴),  is situated around 350 kilometers west of Chengdu, in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of western Sichuan Province. As the county seat, it is a bustling town that sits in a tight canyon on the banks of the Dadu River …

Bathang (Batang)

Lying in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province of China, Bathang (འབའ་ཐང་།) also known as Batang Town (巴塘) in Chinese , is a fertile area at an altitude of 2,700 meters. The town is located on the main road between Lhasa and Chengdu, overlooking the Jinsha River (translated as …

Axu

Axu Tibet

Axu (ཨ་ཕྱུག)Town and Axu Grasslands are situated in Dege County in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China. It is an isolated region in eastern Tibet that includes green pastures dotted with sturdy yaks, snowy, lofty and rugged mountains and crystal clear lakes. The small Axu Town and its …

Dancing Yak Handicrafts

Dancing Yak Handicrafts was founded in Chengdu in 2012. Inside locals and tourists alike stop to browse the beautiful selection of yak and sheep wool materials, carefully crafted into bags, pillows, and more. The owner of the company is a Swiss lady named Katja. She realised that traditionally Tibetan women worked …

Blue Sheep Handicrafts & Giftshop

Tucked away in the streets of Chengdu shoppers can find Blue Sheep Handicrafts & Giftshop. Surrounded by restaurants and other stores, the locals frequent this area as well, telling me that we have come to the right place. Continuing inside the store, I am surprised by how spacious the shop …

Trochu (Heishui)

Stuppas at Heishui

Trochu (ཁྲོ་ཆུ་རྫོང་།), under the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, is part of Sichuan Province. Most of the Tibetans found here are not Amdo speaking. In fact, they are part of a sub-group known as Gyarong, who are Qiangic speaking Tibetans. Known in Chinese as Heishui County (黑水), Trochu has something …

Dzongsar Monastery

Dzongsar Monastery

History of Dzongsar Monastery Throughout its dozen or so centuries of history, the Dzongsar Monastery (རྫོང་སར་དགོན།) has seen expansion, transformation, utter destruction and ultimately, rebirth. While it may not have been restored to its former glory, what the monastery has seen and accomplished over the years is nonetheless remarkable. Located …

Palyul (Baiyu) Monastery

Mani piles at Baiyu Monastery

Location Initially built in 1665,  Palyul Monastery (དཔལ་ཡུལ་དགོན།), also known as Baiyu Monastery( 白玉寺) in Chinese  sits above the many homes along the hillside, at the center of a small village in the Ganzi Prefecture in the western part of Sichuan province. The monastery overlooks the town and valley below …