Sichuan Tibet Highway G317

Your guide and driver from Sichuan Adventure will meet you guys at your Chengdu hotel, then you will head for Barkam. You will first pass Dujiangyan, and then arrive at Yingxiu, the epicentre of the earthquake in 2008. The remains of the school destroyed by the earthquake have been preserved there, after visiting which you can get more understanding of the 2008 earthquake.

Your second stop will be at Taoping Qiang Minority Village, a traditional village of the Qiang people, who are referred to as an ethnic group on the cloud because they were mountain dwellers in ancient time. You will mainly visit the traditional houses and watchtowers in Taoping Qiang Minority Village.

Have lunch at one of the families in Taoping Qiang Village. Then drive to Barkam, the capital of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture.

Before arriving at Barkham county, visit Zhuokeji Headman’s Palace, where you can learn about the details of the life of the local Tibetans as well as their chieftains.

Altitude of Barkham city: 2600m
Overnight: Barkham

Appreciate the scenery of Tibetan area and visit Tibetan Buddhist temples. There are temples which are well preserved in the towns of Luhuo county and Garze county.

You can appreciate the typical scenery on the Tibetan plateau along the way: clouds floating against the blue sky, herds of yaks, red Tibetan residence and Tibetan Buddhist temples with golden roofs.

Arrive at Ganze county and then visit the Kandze Monastery. Standing on this monastery in front of the mountain, one can see the rolling hills covered by snow in the distance. Most of the Tibetan Buddhist temples along the North Sichuan-Tibet line are grand as well as splendid, and are free. There are also a few tourists. Ganze means ‘pure and fair’ in Tibetan.

Altitude of Ganze county: 3400m
Overnight: Ganze

Travel over one of the most isolated counties in Sichuan-Baiyu county. Visit Yarchen Gar along the way. After arriving at Baiyu county, walk to the monastery on the hill if time available.

Established in 1985, Yarchen Gar is an important monastic encampment for Tibetan Buddhists and is worth visiting. It enjoys an equal reputation with Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy in Seda county. There are at least 10,000 Buddhists live and study here, most of whom are women. In Tibetan, nuns are called ‘Juemu’.

If it is still early when arriving at Baiyu county, walk to Palyul Monastery for a visit. The famous monastery of Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is a landmark of Baiyu county. It is very pleasant to take pictures there in the late afternoon on a sunny day. If it is a little bit late, visit Palyul Monastery the next day after breakfast.

Altitude of Baiyu county: 3040m
Overnight: Baiyu

Head north to Dege county along the Jinsha River. Dege county faces Tibet on the other side of the river. You can walk across the bridge over the Jinsha River on 317 National Road to have a look at Tibet.

Travel east to Derge along 317 National Road and then visit Dege Scripture Printing Lamasery, one of the most important dissemination centre of Tibetan culture. Most of the monasteries in Kham are located near Dege county.

Dege Scripture Printing Lamasery still preserves the most tradition, exquisite and complete procedure of printing the Buddhist works in the whole Tibetan area. Dege was ruled by the local Tibetan chieftains in ancient time, and the local people mainly believe in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Altitude of Dege county: 3240m
Overnight: Dege

Highlights of today: the 5050-meter-altitude Pass of Que’ershan Mountain, the famous holy Yulonglacuo Lake, Manigange, the significant town in Tibetan area from which you can get to Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province and the beautiful Kasa Lake.

Keep on moving eastwards along the 317 National Road today. Cross the 5050-meter-altitude Pass of Que’ershan Mountain. Then appreciate the view of the holy lake at the foot of the mountain—Xinlu Lake, also known as Yulonglacuo Lake in Tibetan, which means love lake. It is the largest glacial lake in 4000m in Sichuan province.

Then get to Manigange, the ancient trading fortress in Tibetan areas, which was crowded with horse caravans and traders on the Tea Horse Road because three roads in town could lead to three different areas: Qinghai, Tibet and Sichuan.

Return to Ganze in the afternoon and then drive to Luhuo to stay there for one night. On the way, you can appreciate the attractive view outside the car window. That is the view of the 3510-meter-altitude Kasa Lake under the distant hill, which is a typical plateau freshwater lake and the largest waterfowl habitat on 317 National Road.

Visit the monasteries in the Luhuo county if it is still early.

Altitude of Luhuo county: 3250m
Overnight: Luhuo

Today we’ll drive to the relatively low-altitude Danba county which is well-known for its Tibetan villages and watchtowers. The Tibetan residence along the way linking Luhuo county with Daofu county is quite distinctive. Before arriving at Danba county, you will pass a village where the 11th Dalai Lama was born, and from which you can see the Yala Snow Mountain of 5800-meter high at the distance if the weather is fine.

Visit Jiaju Tibetan village in Danba and have a look at one of the families in order to get more knowledge of the life and custom of Jiarong Tibetans. Dadu River roars all the way under the mountain where the village lies. The scenery in the village is very stunning and the villagers mainly grow barley, corn and many fruit trees.

Altitude of Danba county: 1700m
Overnight: Danba

You will visit some places which the Red Army once passed, including Lianghekou which witnesses the union of several units of the Red Army during the Long March of Chinese Communist Party. Stop at Xiaojin and visit a Catholic church.

Cross the Jiajin mountain and then enter Baoxing county, an important place for wild panda to live in. It is in Baoxing county that the first foreigner, a French missionary, found a panda.

There is another route linking Danba with Chengdu which passes Xiaojin county, Siguniang town, Wolong Nature Reserve, Yingxiu, Dujiangyan city along the way and is totally 360 kilometres.

After arriving at Chengdu, your guide and driver will send you back to your hotel.