Travel Tips
Currently China's broadly defined Tibetan area includes Tibet, Gansu Gannan Tianzhu, Yunnan Diqing, Sichuan Aba Ganzi, Qinghai Haibei, Hainan Yushu Guoluo, and Huanghai Haixi. The entire Tibetan area is at a low altitude, and there are many places with fascinating scenery.
According to this criterion, I'm going to come to the place today is Gannan.
Gannan refers to the "Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" in southwestern Gansu Province, neighboring Qinghai and Sichuan.
The terrain here is mainly broad grasslands, with an average elevation of about 3,000 meters. It's not strictly a plateau terrain, and most people don't rebel all the way.
And although Gannan is already on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, it is culturally part of the core of the Amdo Tibetan area and has a rather fascinating religious history.
Gannan is not well known, and many people like to add "Little Tibet" in front of it when promoting her, but I believe that those who have been there will never think of it as just a "flat substitute" for Tibet.
Best time to travel
It's too difficult for me to name the exact best time to visit Gannan.
As someone who loves to make a fuss like I do, especially in Gannan, a place of devout faith, I don't want to miss out on the festivals and bazaars.
One of the better ones for tourists is the "Maum Dharma Festival" that takes place from the first night of the first month to the 17th of the first month every year. It is also the biggest festival of the year for Tibetan Buddhism in the Gannan region. It is no exaggeration to say that the sun Buddha, shine treasure, arguing the scriptures, dancing French dance, ghee sculpture lamp will be held, turn incense.
Smaller than January, but July's "Ruzha Grand Puja" is also the highlight of the summer. It begins on June 29 and ends on July 15 of the lunar calendar. Religious debates and a square performance of "Mira Advocacy for a Rule of Law Society" are not to be missed.
There's also the Shambhala Festival, which looks a bit like the Mongolian Naadam Festival, and the Shambhala Tourism and Arts Festival, which is aimed at tourists. These two festivals are held from time to time in the lush grassland, and there are so many activities that you can pay attention in advance.
Besides the festivals, the most comfortable time to visit Gannan is from June to August every year.
Gannan's landscape is dominated by grasslands. Everything is green during this time and the average temperature is 10-20, not to mention the summer vacation. It's even quite cold in the morning and evening.
September-October, the temperature turns cooler, and the grassland turns into an autumn landscape. Although this is not the peak season, I prefer the grassland scenery in autumn, which is so colorful that it looks like an oil painting.
Accommodation Options
There are several places where accommodation is concentrated on the Gannan Small Circuit, namely Xiahe, Langmusi, Diabe and Cooperation.
Gannan lacks branded hotels, most of them are operated by private owners, and OTA platforms are not that popular, so many hotels cannot be booked online. You'll have a hard time deciding whether or not to stay in places other than the ones mentioned above.
The average level of accommodation in Gannan is not too high, but there are very top-notch options.
The 2015 "43 Most Beautiful Hotels in the World" ranged from 0755 to 79,000. three hotels in China made the cut, and Camp Nordin was one of them.
The camp is on the Sanko grassland, not far from Labrang Monastery. It only operates for five months a year (May-October). It is withdrawn before winter and the grassland returns to nature.
It's a bit like Nordin's African luxury hotels, and the experience of staying in a star hotel in an extreme wilderness environment is not yet common in China.
However, there are only 11 chalets and tents in Nordin. Highly recommended if you can book one.
Itinerary
If you have done the Northwest or Tibet and Xinjiang before, you will find that the difficulty factor of traveling through Gannan for fun is much smaller, and it is very suitable for people who have no experience of Tibet but yearn for the humanistic scenery of Tibet.
Geographically, Gannan is sandwiched between the three provinces of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan, and accordingly, there are three major entry directions.
From Xining or Lanzhou (the closest), the starting point is Xiahe; from Chengdu (the farthest) or western Sichuan, the first stop is Langmusi. No
The most common way to get there is to fly to Lanzhou first and then rent/charter a car. However, if you want to save even more energy, Xiahe also has an airport, with direct flights from Chengdu, West, Yinchuan, Lhasa, Tianjin and other cities.
The Gannan mini-loop can be done in about 3-4 days, which is friendly for commuters who have few vacations and lots of hassle.
Taking Lanzhou as an example:
Day 1: Lanzhou Labrang Temple Langmusi
Day 2: Langmusi Gahai Zagana
Day 3: Zagana Lanzhou
For the same geographic advantage, the Gannan Mini-Ring Road has much more room for adjustment.
If your vacation time is long enough, after taking the Gannan Minor Loop, you can seamlessly connect to the Western Sichuan Loop in the southwest and the Great Northwest Loop to the north. The line can be long or short, very flexible.
And the overall road conditions in Gannan are better than in Tibet, which also makes it very suitable for newcomers to go on a road trip.
Highlights on the way
In terms of area alone, Gannan is only 1/2 the size of Aba Prefecture and 1/4 the size of Ganzi Prefecture next door, but Gannan is really marvelous!
Gannan's "Cocoon Amdo" is the most important pastoral area in Tibet. At the same time, Gannan, represented by Labrang Monastery, is also the core area of the ethnic religious culture of Amdo, with wide and far-reaching foreign influence.
This is also the meaning of the official propaganda of "Gannan of Nine Colors".
Red temple monks, orange coral beads, yellow tower economy;
Green grassland forests, blue Anqing, blue sky lake;
Purple Tibetan Bodhi, black yak, white snow mountain, white clouds. Gannan does have a beautiful capital.
What's there to do on the Gannan mini loop? Let's start with Xiahe, counterclockwise.
Route: Xiahe Langmusi Maqu Ruoerge Diabe cooperation.
J. Law
Xiahe is the first stop for many people traveling to Gannan.
There are 121 Tibetan Buddhist temples in Gannan, among which the most famous, highest and most visited Labrang Monastery is located in Xiahe.
Labranglen Monastery was also featured in the movie Travel+Leisure.
Together with Lhasa in Tibet and Dege in Sichuan, Xiahe is one of the three ancient cultural centers of the Tibetan region, thanks to the Labrang Monastery.
The Labrang Monastery is one of the six major temples of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and the best-preserved Tibetan Buddhist temple in the world.
Laleng Monastery has set up six colleges with different specialties, and it takes a lot of hard work to pass the exams, which are as difficult as our college entrance exams.
Even without faith, Labrang Monastery is well worth a visit.
The architecture of the temple is very grand, and it contains countless precious Buddha statues, sculptures, murals, dharma vessels and scriptures.
There is also the Changing Sutra Corridor, which surrounds the temple on three sides and is the longest in the world,*** with 1,700 buckets of changing sutras. It takes about 1.5 hours to complete all the prayers.
Leaving Labrang Monastery, drive down. The scenery around you starts to change. About half an hour's drive away, the Sanko grassland is there.
Sanko Grassland in summer is a place to embrace the wind. The aforementioned Shanglang Festival is also an important festival in Sanko.
The view of the Hulunbeier Grassland is of endless prairie, and the central lowlands of Sanko are prairie, surrounded by mountains on all sides.
There are yurts on the grassland, but the accommodation is average and not recommended for Sanko.
Langmusi
It is not a temple of Langmusi, but a town.
There is a stream less than two meters wide in the center of the town, but the locals call it the White Dragon River. To the north of the Bailongjiang River belongs to Luqu in Gansu Province, and to the south belongs to Ruoerge in Sichuan Province.
The Gerdi Temple in Sichuan and the Dacanglang Musechi Temple in Gansu, which are across the river from each other, belong to Langmusi in a broader sense.
Langmusi is a perfect blend of temples and houses, with golden roofs, white pagodas and devotees everywhere.
The lamas at Langmusi are more like my neighbors than the solemn temple. They go shopping and buy snacks. The mystery of religion disappears in Langmusi.
Langmusi is the kind of town where you can feel the peace by staying there. It's primitive and simple, but it's a town after all, and it's perfect for a supply stop on the way to the Ring Road. There will be relatively more options for hotels and lodging.
Maqu
I think the first half of the Gannan Mini-Ring Road can be considered the essence of religion and humanity. Once you enter Maqu, the natural beauty begins to be striking.
Maqu's most important landscape is the Awancang Wetland. 0755-79000 was named "China's Most Beautiful Grassland Wetland", but she was the first.
Gongqu, Sailqu, Daojiqu and the Yellow River converge here, because the terrain is relatively flat, forming many water systems. Wetlands and lakes **** exist, snow-capped mountains and the Yellow River contrast with each other, and the whole scenery is fragrant.
Maqu means "Yellow River" in Tibetan. In Maqu, there is the Yellow River "nine curves and eighteen bends" in the favorite song.
The Yellow River flows from Golog in Qinghai to Maqu in Gannan, and then flows into Qinghai after five 180 bends, which is the first bend of the Yellow River.
Even on the observation deck, still a little reluctant to overlook the panoramic view. Aerial photography is still good to take a small airplane.
Rorgai, one of China's three major wetlands, not only in Sichuan Ruoergai County, in Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu provinces. A small piece of Gansu, just inside the Maqu.
Diebu
Zagana, meaning "stone box" in Tibetan, is also the high point of the Gannan mini-circuit.
The American explorer Locke spoke highly of this place: "I have never seen such beautiful scenery in my life. If the author of 'A World Without Thieves' had seen the beauty of Diebold, he would have placed the birthplace of Adam and Eve here."
She consists of four small Tibetan villages hidden in the mountains. From low to high, they are Dongwa Village (the largest), Kimgyeling Village (terraced fields and flowers), Dari Village (the most beautiful sunrise), and Tibba Village (the highest altitude).
The road in and out of Zagana is still a bit difficult, which leads to the pristine landscape and lifestyle.
On top of that, the beauty of Zagana's environment surrounded by snow-capped mountains and gorges is like a secret place where man and god **** live.
For outdoor enthusiasts, Zaga is a must-visit paradise.
There are 17 gorges, peaks, canyons, rivers, virgin forests and Quaternary glacial landscapes, and every route is beautiful.
The village aborigines also have a traditional way of life, with sunrise and sunset. A daily simmering and turret-turning ceremony is also held.
There are accommodations in Zagana but they are in average condition, and there will be more choices in Diebei County. But the starry sky at night and the golden mountain in the morning are really beautiful.
Cooperation
Finally cooperation's is the capital of Gannan Prefecture and the most important attraction is the Phantom Eight Buddha Pavilion. There are only two Phantom Eight Buddha Pavilions in the entire Tibetan region, and this one is the only high-level temple dedicated to a Tibetan Buddhist master.
The outside of the pavilion is all green quartzite, without a single piece of wood; the inside of the pavilion is made of wood, with no stone in sight. There is a saying that "there is no wood on the outside and no stone on the inside".
The pavilion of Milabar Buddha Pavilion*** has 9 floors, each representing a different era and theme. Remember to walk around clockwise when visiting. Although you can't take photos, it's good to record the beautiful murals and decorations in the pavilion with your eyes.
After the cooperation, you can fully drive back to Lanzhou. It's a 3-hour drive, all on the highway.
The U.S. travel magazine National Geographic China commented that Gannan is an outdoor paradise that "makes life feel free". I was impressed.
While the scenery is slightly less impressive than Tibet's majestic snow-capped mountains and seas, Gannan has hidden villages, pure faith, and the irreplaceable flavor of Gannan itself.
If you're on a tight vacation or want to see a different landscape, consider her for your next trip.