41 days trekking in Eastern Tibet
Since before the gods were even here, the area of Western Sichuan has rivaled Lhasa for the title of "center of the Tibetan world." Strattling the zone in between the dry, arid Tibetan high plauteu and the lush lowlands of Western China, the Tibetans used this abundant land to build a facinating civilization that impacted regions thousands of kilometers away and continues to amaze, even today. If you think about places in the world that have amazing mountain scenery, there are many to choose from. But if you think about places in the world that have managed to hold back the tide of McDonalds and Starbucks through the 20th century, there are few left to choose from. But this place is certainly one that still offers both scenery and culture. At least for now, Western Sichuan is truly a facinating place where Gods and Mountains still stand high and tall and rule the land.
The existance of a province of China called "Sichuan" has been a thorny political goal of the Chinese for centuries, a goal only achieve in the last century and even today mostly just on paper. The problem is it's actually Tibet, and even today full of Tibetan people, culture, and legend even though it doesn't form part of the TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region). There you'll find a rugged people proud of their Tibetan heritage and their land. The last resistance to the Chinese agression in the 1950s was here, with the last Tibetan gurrila warriars finally murdered in the the town Litang long after Chinese noodle shops had began replacing monestaries in so-called "real Tibetan areas" like Lhasa and Shigatse.
In the 1960s, Chairman Hitler - oops I meant Chair Mao - anyway Mao's massive and stupid brainfart the "Cultural Revelution" saw centuries of built-up Tibetan and Chinese culture brutally destroyed in a few short years. But the Tibetan areas of Sichuan survived almost unscathed purly because of their isolation - up until the last 20 years or so it took days or weeks to reach even the fringe of "Kanba" - Western Sichuan - and few knew the remote areas even existed let alone Mao's Cultural Revolution gangs. While the beautiful world heritage of the TAR and even Beijing was being systematically and forever destroyed, the Tibetans of Kanba contined spinning their prayer wheels, burning their yak-dung candles, tilling their land, and the gods of Kanba have lived on in peace. And even to this day the Chinese haven't succeeded in building a single decent road, although they've dumped millions of yuan trying. So while it no longer takes weeks to get anywhere, it still takes long hours on insane mountain roads - about half of them still unpaved - to even get there let alone get around. Nobody speaks English and many don't even speak Chinese. And not one Ronald McDonald anywhere.
When I visited China for the first time, in 2002, I looked forward most of all to visiting this area. But when I arrived in Chengdu I learned travel into the TAR was cheap and easy and I couldn't resist to hop straght on a flight to Lhasa. I don't regret my trip to the TAR at all - I had an awesome time ther - but I was eager to return to Chengdu more than any other place in the world. The next year I got an amazing opportunity to do offshore part-time programming from any place in the world that has an internet cafe. Free from the chains of an office, I made tracks back to Sichuan, where 40 years of Chinese occupation have at least seen the rise of fast internet connections in every town. Although I had to spend far more time then I would have liked holed up in hotel rooms and coffeeshops with my eyes and fingered glued to a laptop, 43 days was still plenty of time to explore this unique part of the world. And during the downtime I made many friends, Chinese, Western, and Tibetan. I disappeared from Chengdu for a little over a month and when I emerged back in the world of McDonalds and Starbucks at the other end, in Lijiang (Yunnan province), I had a Microdrive full of photos, a notebook full of names and email addresses, and lifetime of memories.
Itinerary
Day 1-4: Flight into Chengdu (from Bangkok). Techno-bumming and gearing up in Chengdu
Day 5-8: Mt. Xuebaoding Trek
Day 9: Huanglong
Day 10: Bus back to Chengdu
Day 11-14: Chengdu
Day 15-17: Mt. Siguniang Trek
Day 18-21: Chengdu
Day 22-25: Moxi/Hailougou "Trek"
Day 26-28: Kangding
Day 29-32: Zume Pass Trek
Day 33: Tagong
Day 34-35: Kangding, bus to Litang
Day 36: Litang Gompa
Day 37: To Daocheng
Day 38-39: Yading Trek
Day 40: To Zhongdian
Day 41: Tiger Leaping Gorge, to Lijiang
With Danbo & Simon, master trekker Tenfeng, Marian, a whole crapload of Americans, the Sam's Guidehouse desk dude and chickEasing in, gearing up, tapping keys Chendu, with more than 10 million people and a cityscape worthy of any metropolis its size, made for a nice re-introduction to China, a great place to stock up on camping gear, and a nice place to chill out and make some money while all the plans got sorted out.
With The quiet guy on the bus in, the old hotel key lady and her granddaughter, a pack of ultra fun Israelis and the British masterbation guy, damn thieving Tibetan yak herdersFour day trek to the base of Mt. Xuebaoding
A "soft landing" into Tibet, with this easy introductory trek from the popular Western tourist town of Songpan. Nomadic Tibetan yak herders stole all my brand-new camping gear, but the scenery was grand, the culture deep, the route surprisingly devoid of other tourists, and I linked up with a gregarious group of partying Israelis (and one Brit nick-named "the masterbation guy) who tolerated my bitching about "damn thieving Tibetans" and showed me a great time.
Route
Songpan to Village: ~2 hours
Village to Campsite 1: ~4.5 hours
Campsite to Ruins: ~4.5 hours
Ruins to glacial moraine and back: ~4 hours
Ruins to Campsite 2: ~2 hours
Campsite 2 to Songpan via Niba monestary: ~6.5 hours (recommend you spilt it up)
With Two Israelis and the British Masterbation GuyAppreciating nature as best as possible in a downpour
Huanglong and it's big brother Jiuzhaigou are the big Chinese tourist drawcards of the Songpan area. The Lonely Planet warns of this and suggests giving both a miss and doing horse-trekking around "the more authentic and less hectic" Songpan instead. Of course as a result of the listing in Lonely Planet, Songpan has become overrun with Western tourists and a whole horse-trekking industry has developed catering to them. The most irnoic thing is the horse-trekking is far from spectacular. No doubt it originally made the guidebook simply as a nice out-of-the-way place to visit in the area, now it's become the place to go in it's own right, basically for no other reason than it's listing in a silly guidebook.
But all three plces can be a blast - break the glass barrier of an organized trek and hike your way around Songpan for a great time. And the nature of both Huanglong and Jiuzhaogou are in fact wort...
With Danbo & Simon, TenfengPerfecting my Key Stroke in a vast sea of C#Why? Couldn't get enough of Danbo's French Toast and Eggs
With Five-minute friend from Hong Kong, smoky noodle bar and drunken climbers, cool expat from Shanghai, and one almost-bus-buddyAlpine scenery riviling Nepal
Mt. Siguniang - "Four Sisters Mountain" - sees crowds of Chinese tourists but almost no Westerners. I visited during Chinese Independance holidays and sure enough some spots were teeming with Chinese tourists, but I saw a grand total of two other Westerners during my entire five day trip.
It's a shame this region isn't highlighted better in the guidebooks because as far as mountain beautiful it can hold its own compared to just about anywhere. A dramatic bus journey lifts you high up the mountainside to a windy pass at greater than 4000 meters, smack in the middle of a whole mess of five and six thousand meter peaks. Over the pass you get your first view of the four sister peaks of Mt. Siguniang, including the snow-capped 6200 meter main peak.
From the little tourist village of Rilong you can follow all the Chinese tourists up your choice of t...
With Danbo & Simon, TenfengMore long days spent geeking at Danbo and Simon's "Landfillbar" cafeWhy? You need to buy coffee to stay awake working, and you need to pay for the coffee by working. A viscious cycle!
A dose of luxury at an awesome hot springs resort all to myself
I was exicited at the prospect of finally laying eues on Mt. Ganggashan, at 7550 meters, one of the highest mountains on Earth. After this trip though, I was still exciting about the prosepect, as during the full four days I could barely make out what food was on my plate the fog was so think, let along if or where any mountains were.
It seems if you're near Gongga-shan but at elevation less than 5000 meters (which is about everywhere you can get without an ice-ax) you're in the "cloud zone". It sounds grim, and in fact after an unplanned weather-day in the little touristy (but not unpleasant) gateway town of Moxi, I was feeling a little down. But on day two I decided to head up the mountain anyway and fell into a delightful little European-style hot springs villa. I had to drag myself away after three days of soaking, swimming, and relaxing among dozens of steaming outdoor pools and almost didn't want the weather the clear, lest I'd be f...
October 14, 2003 - October 16, 2003 -
KandingWith The three Japanese travelers, free English lesson at the Tibetan cafe, the nice Dumpling lady who I couldn't understand a word ofReturn to nerd-land for a few daysWhy? China is soooo cheap, but you still need to make SOME money
With The crazy Tibetan mountain dude and his Guangzhou interpreter, the family in Tsume, the villiage on the way, the rich Tibetans in the last village, English lesson in the back of a truckA trek in search of Mt. Gongga and un-touristed Tibetan culture Trek from the village of Liuba to Tsume-la Pass and back, passing through some unforgettable remote Tibetan areas and with a view of Mt. Gongga-shan to die for at Tsume-la.
With Five minute friends from EnglandSearching for budda under beautiful Mt. Haisushan Tagong was an afterthought, something to do on the way back to Kanding from Liuba. But it turned out to be a real highlight. It's one of the largest and most important monestaries in Eastern Tibet, receiving a large number of Western, Chinese, and local tourists. Recently they've started to milk the tourist trade, building a giant ugly new temple directly under Mt. Haizushan that seems meant only for photo-ops. And it's mentioned in the Lonely Planet (although just in one sentance as part of the Chengdu to Gansu route.) But the tiny town still has some charm, and the monestary grounds make for a nice stopover, whether in my case, from Liuba to Kanding, or by the normal tourist route from Kanding to Litang.
October 22, 2003 - October 23, 2003 -
KandingWith The cool Canadian photographerBurning a hole in my Shift key for dollarsWhy? To pay all the dumpling shop bills
With Tennesee, Tongbei Dumpling guy, nice Tibetan hotel lady, Two monks in red
The road from Kangding to Litang was a long but beautiful one. The bus shot straight up above the clouds to reveal a bright sunrise over the mists of Kangding far below. From there it's all Tibet - Tibetan farmhouses, gompas, stupas, rise everywhere on the high arid Tibetan plateau. We passed a giant army caravan carrying mysterious, unknown cargo hidden by dark green burlap - perhaps a hundred trucks. Each had a slogan like "Protecting Our Country" or my favority "Tibetans and Chinese - Brothers Living Together." We crested a final ridge and saw Litang far below, with the wind-swept plains spreading out far into the hazy Mt. Genian, far in the distance.
After trekking in Liuba, a place even most Chinese people don't know about, Litang was a bit of a shock at first. I pulled into the recommended "White Crane Hotel" (sign in English) and shared a three bed dorm room with an interesting guy from Tennesee of all places. I was ...
With The Hong Kong tourists on the bus, the nice hotel people ("Meigui!"), the hiking master, Cai and the other six in the clown car. the Guangdong guy "Daocheng Yading! / Shangarila!" goes the Chinese song. Back in Chengdu at the beginning of the hike I came across a photo book and thought "ohh that's the place". Strattling the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces pretty much in the very middle of nowhere, Yading has got to be China's most beautiful national park. The three "Daocheng Holy Peaks", the highest Mt. Xianreri at around 6050 meters, rise dramatically from deep glacial-cut valleys to form an out-of-this-world vista. All trip I had those magnificent Daocheng photos in the back of my mind and looked forward to the trip as the climax of my "Gods and Mountains" tour.
Unfortunately the weather had other ideas. There was a brief clearing on the way there but other than that for three straight days it was clouds, rain, snow, bitter cold gusting winds, and only the tinyiest wisps of mountains some...
Cai with an awesome group of Chinese tourists
I met a great group of travelers from Eastern China on the way back from Yading to Daocheng. We all hung out together in Daocheng, then on the all-day bus to Zhongdian (recently renamed "Shangrila"). From there we almost parted ways but at the last minute we all agreed to go together to rent a car for a day trip to Lijiang, taking in several sights in between including the Tiger Leaping Gorge.
One of the stops was a nothing-special touristy lake where everybody paid almost nothing to try on some colorful Tibetian clothes and have their pictures taken along the lake. After a month of agressive camping and trekking such a light, fun day was the perfect thing. The Tiger Leaping Gorge was also very nice, and even though we arrived in Lijiang late we still had time to go out and have a nice little night on the town together.
