The story appears on

Page B1

September 30, 2015

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Feature » Travel

Fascinating cultures, friendly people and unspoiled nature await in Gansu

LIN Jing is a senior journalist covering international affairs in Beijing’s Xinhua news agency. She travels frequently for both work and leisure, always on the lookout for new adventures. Instead of getting out of town, she has lately become obsessed with “pretending to be somewhere else.”

“When I get tired of my apartment I search AirBNB for new alternatives, something fun and totally different like a small cozy siheyuan (courtyard house),” she said.

My favorite destination so far is Gannan in southern Gansu Province. The cultures and lifestyles of the various ethnic groups are quite wonderful. The views of lakes, meadows, wetlands, stone fortresses and Tibetan monasteries are also tough to beat.

 

My most unforgettable experience is surviving a hailstorm while hiking toward Zhagana’s Tibetan villages in Gannan. We accidentally got stuck in a swamp during the storm. When we managed to get out we were cold and covered in mud. That’s when a Tibetan family saw us. They led us to their home, helped us dry our clothes on the fire, gave us water to clean up and shared their food. That was the most delicious soup I’ve ever had.

 

For those looking for somewhere not so well known in China, I recommend the Gannan area. The high season is over and less people travel there as the weather gets colder, which makes exploring the deserted wilderness even better as it’s unlikely you’ll come across many travelers.

Starting out from Lanzhou, stop in Xiahe County to visit Labrang Monastery — one of the six monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Sitting on the north bank of the Xiahe River, the monastery invokes a rare tranquility and solemnness that helps you empty your mind. It also has the longest corridor in the world to house prayer wheels. A Buddhism believer or not, don’t miss the chance to spin the prayer wheels.

Move on to embrace nature at Sangke Grassland and Gahai Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the southern Gansu’s Tibetan area. Migratory birds stop at the lake every spring and autumn.

About a 40-minute drive from Diebu County lies the villages of Zhagana, meaning “stone casket” in Tibetan. Four Tibetan villages are in the valley, which features primitive forests and mountains that are often wreathed in mist.

Austrian-born American explorer and botanist Joseph Rock once wrote Diebu “should be where Adam and Eve were born” in “China on the Wild Side.” North of the villages is Shijing Mountain, or Stone Mirror Mountain, which is named after its reflective grey white limestone.

After Diebu, travel across the Tiebu Sika Deer Reserve and Zoige Grasslands until you make it to the S-shaped river course of the Yellow River. This is the mighty river’s first turn.

A hilltop in front of the Suoke Tibetan Monastery is a nice spot to get a bird’s-eye view of the Baihe River flowing into the Yellow River.

Next up is Huahu Lake, a nature reserve for black-necked cranes. Then move on to visit Langmu Monastery. From there, you can hike to Namo Valley and see the origin of the Jialing River.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend