Sichuan Kangding Travel Guide

City of Kangding (or Kangting ) is the prefectural capital of Ganzi (Ganze) Tibetan autonomous prefecture in west of Sichuan province. As its name suggests, Ganzi is a region where ethnic Tibetan dominates its total population. In city of Kangding, 70% of its 140000 citizens are Tibetan. Its unique demographics is reflected in architectures, traditions and languages. It is an important historical city in west Sichuan with history dating back to Han dynasty.

This is a city built in a narrow valley surrounded by mountains. The downtown area of Kangding is at the elevation of 2500 meters. The mountains surround Kangding tower 5000-7000 meters. The highest of them all is the might Gongga snow mountain (or Mingya Konka), it is staggering 7556 meters above sea level, or 25000 feet, making it the highest point of Sichuan province, the 8th highest point in China. With improvement of infrastructure, this once remote mountain town is now a popular tourists’ destination. People flooded in to experience its exotic (to many Han Chinese) Tibetan cultures and practices, and its amazing landscapes.     

● Top things to do  in Kangding

Kangding is the key city on the way of National Road 318 stretching from Chengdu and to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and linking with many featured destinations along the way.Diverse Beautiful Landscape with Exciting Activities. Snow mountains, Glaciers, vast grasslands, emerald lakes, Tibetan-styled houses, Buddhist temples...It has the most wild, magnificent and gorgeous landscape of Sichuan. 

● Mugecuo is locate in the northeast of Kangding, in Sichuan Province.It is made up of cuckoo valley, horse racing ground, seven-color sea , pool with curative effect and honghai grassland. Many see it a miniature version of the famous Jiuzhaigou national park as they shares the same types of forests, grasslands and crystal clear water, all dotted in the backdrop of snow caped mountains.

● Zheduo Mountain, at an altitude of 4962 meters, is located between Kangding and Xinduqiao. Called the First Pass of Kangba Tibetan Area, travelers need to cross the high mountains of 4298 meters to get into the real Kangba Tibetan Area. After passing Zheduo Mountain, drive another 42 kilometers and you’ll arrive at Xinduqiao Town. This route has so much to see.

● Mount Gongga, or Minya Kongka, is reputed as the King of Sichuan Mountains with its provincial highest altitude of 7556 meters. Surrounded by 145 high peaks and over 10 plateau lakes, Mount Gongga offers primitive gorgeous view. With particularly hard terrain, this mountain is even worldly famous for alpine expedition and mountain climbing. 

● Called the Paradise for Photographers, Xinduqiao is a town standing at 3300 meters with about 10-kilometers with extremely beautiful view. It is located at the crossroad of National Road 318 and the scenery from Zheduo Mountain to Xinduqiao and Xinduqiao to Tagong are stunning for explore.

● Tagong Grassland (塔公草原) is a vast expanse of meadow covering an area of 712.37 square kilometers and located at 3900m in elevation. These beautiful grasslands are home to Tibetan nomads grazing their herds of yaks and living in traditional black yak wool tents. Under the blue sky, the yaks flocks in the vast prairie wide. Riding on a horseback and look across the snow-topped Mount Yala, with the magnificent Golden Padoga and captivating grasslands, Mount Yala presents spectacular views for you to admire.

● Tibetans are people living on horse backs. Horse racing events are held every year in June in Tagong grassland. The event witness the gathering of the best horse riders of all Tibetan tribes and villages around Kangding and west Sichuan province. Apart from its competitiveness and entertainment, traditionally this event was an important trading fair for Tibetan tribes to exchange goods and information. It also serves as a ritual for a better harvest, better health of people and live stocks for the coming year.

● Zhuan Shan Hui (Buddha bathing day) is a date that Buddhists believe the Sakyamuni was born. This day is celebrated by Tibetan who are mostly Buddhists. On this day they gather with friends or relatives, make offer to monasteries and chant Buddhism sutra. They often walk a circle around the monasteries or event mountains which the monasteries are built on , hence the name zhuan shan hui, which means walk around the mountain. Afterwards, they gather to sing and dance and push the celebration to its climax.

● Kangding Food&Drinks

Cuisine style of Kangding is a mixture of Tibetan and Han traditions. You could find restaurants serving stir fries and dishes you could find in any other Chinese cities. Also you could experience the quite different Tibetan cuisine. Tibetan food is more suitable for the stomach of the nomadic which contains large quantities of meat and milk products, quite a departure from conventional Chinese food people experience. Yak meat is the must try item in Kangding, especially the yak jerky. Kangding is also the home to cordyceps, a kind of caterpillar fungus many believe that they possess some curative effects.  

● Kangding Transportation

Kangding was once an isolated town deep inside the mountains of west Sichuan province. Thanks to the intensive investment on infrastructures in recent years, Kangding witnessed a huge transformation in its transportation network. It is about 350km away from provincial capital Chengdu, and requires a 3-4 hour drive. It is connected to cities like Ya’an and Chengdu by Chengdu-Ya’an expressway and Ya’an-Kangding expressway. It is a key city on the famous G318 national highway which in eyes of travelers the most picturesque highway in China. There is currently no railway service to Kangding. Air service is available though. The Ganzi Kangding Airport (KGT) sits on a flat land around 25km from downtown Kangding at the elevation of 4200 meters, making it the third highest airport in the world. Flights in and out of this region are limited. Two airliners (Sichuan Airlines & Yunnan Xiangpeng Airlines) are now operating in KGT, offering services to cities like Chengdu, Chongqing, Lhasa and Hangzhou.  

● Kangding Weather

Kangding has a very different climatic pattern compared to other cities near Chengdu plain. Sitting at the altitude of 2500 meters, it is much cooler and drier than other cities in Sichuan. The city enjoys much more clear sky than most of other cities in Sichuan. Its cool summer making it a popular summer retreat for people live in the hot and humid Chengdu plain. Winter is relatively long and heavy snow is not unusual. Altitude related symptoms should be considered for visitors with pre-existing medical conditions.