Travel Guide Kangding 康定

(2 900 m). Located 370 km from Chengdu, it is a former commercial crossroads that now has a hydroelectric dam. This is where the roads of the north and south, from Chengdu to Lhasa, come along. Minya Konga, along with its 7 556 m, can see the highest peak in China (without of course considering Tibet).To go there from Chengdu or Leshan, you can join Ya'an by train. From there, we take a bus that takes nine hours to reach Kangding. We pass a 3 500 m pass to Ltd (3 400 m), prefecture of the Garze region.Via Chamdo 昌都 (the tea route). After a pass at 4 050 m above sea level, there is a landscape of alpine tundra where grazing of yaks on a snow-capped bottom melts. The only human presence is that of nomadic pastors. After Gartar, coniferous forests accompany you up to 4 000 m above sea level.Luhuo 炉霍 (270 km) marks access to the high grassland where graze sheep, goats and yaks. Many wild species lived there, unfortunately, slowly decimated by the Chinese. In Garze (110 km), the monastery dominates the village. In the north of Manigango, in the direction of Xerxu (formerly Jyekoundo), lies outside the main track, the monasteries of Dzogchen (Nyingmapa) and Shechen and the caves of Guru Rinpoche. On the road to Derge, the Col Pass (4 600 m) reveals a snowy chain and glacial languages where they form in places of small lakes.