There are a lot of tourists who go on self-drive tours every year, especially this line of Gannan, more tourists, if you are trying to have a self-drive tour this summer, then you can refer to the following attractions as well as routes, and have the time to go and have a good time.

Currently the domestic scope of the Tibetan area in a broad sense, including Tibet, Gansu Gannan & Tianzhu, Yunnan Diqing, Sichuan Aba & Ganzi, Qinghai Haibei & Hainan & Yushu & Golo & Huangnan & Haixi, etc., the whole of the Tibetan area, there is no shortage of low elevation, the scenery and charming to the mess of the place.

According to such criteria, today I want to come to the place, is Gannan.

Gannan refers to the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern Gansu Province, bordering Qinghai and Sichuan.

The terrain here is mainly broad grasslands, with an average altitude of about 3,000 meters, which is not strictly speaking a plateau, and the vast majority of people will not have high altitude sickness.

And although Gannan is already on the edge of the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, it is culturally part of the core area of the Amdo Tibetan area, and its religious history is quite fascinating.

Gannan is not very famous, many people publicize her, like to add a "small Tibet" in front, but I believe that people who have been there will never think that this is just Tibet's "Pingtai" only.

Best time to travel

It would be difficult for me to say the exact best time to travel to Gannan.

A person like me, who likes to make a lot of noise, especially in a place like Gannan, where there is a lot of devotion, festivals, markets and fairs are something you don't want to miss.

More suitable for tourists to participate in, one is the first night of the first month of the year to the 17th of the first month of the "Maulanm Puja", but also the Gannan region of Tibetan Buddhism in the year's biggest festival, sunshine Buddha, bright treasure, arguing, dancing, ghee flower lanterns, turn the Shambhala? It is not an exaggeration to say that the degree of activity is ten thousand people.

The scale is not as large as the first month, but the July "Zoza Grand Puja" is also the highlight of the summer. Starting on June 29 and ending on July 15, the festival features a religious debate and a square performance of the "Miraku Puja," which is not to be missed.

There's also the Shambhala Tourism and Arts Festival, which resembles the Mongolian Naadam in form, and is more geared toward tourists. Both festivals are held irregularly during the grassland's richness, and there are plenty of activities to keep an eye out for in advance.

Besides the festivals, the most comfortable time for Gannan's climate is from June to August each year.

Gannan landscape is grassland-based, this time everywhere is green, and the average temperature is only 10-20 ℃, not to mention the summer heat, the morning and evening is even quite cold.

September-October temperatures turn cold, the grassland fully into the autumn scenery. Although this time is not considered the peak season, but I like the golden autumn grassland scenery a little more, colorful like an oil painting.

Accommodation options

Gannan small loop on the accommodation is more concentrated in a few places, respectively, Xiahe, Langmusi, Diabe, cooperation.

Gannan brand hotels are lacking, the vast majority of them are opened by private owners, and the OTA platform is not so popular, many hotels and guesthouses can not be booked online. In addition to the above mentioned a few places, want to live in other places to stay will be more difficult to book.

The average level of accommodation in Gannan is not too high, yet there are very top choices.

Travel+Leisure named Gannan one of the 43 most beautiful hotels in the world in 2015, and three of China's hotels made the list.

The camp is on the Sanko grassland, not far from Labrang Monastery, and is only open for five months a year (May-October), withdrawing before winter to return the grassland to nature.

Noldan is a bit of an African wild luxury hotel, the ultimate wild environment + star hotel experience, which is still rare in China.

But Noldan a **** only 11 chalets and tents, can be booked if still very recommended.

If you have previously done the Great Northwest or Tibet, Xinjiang strategy, you will find that play through the Gannan coefficient of difficulty is much smaller, very suitable for people who do not have the experience of Tibet, but aspire to Tibetan humanities and scenery.

Geographically, Gannan is sandwiched between the three provinces of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan, and correspondingly, there are three general directions of entry.

From Xining or Lanzhou (the nearest), the starting point is Xiahe; from Chengdu (the farthest) or the direction of western Sichuan, the first stop is Langmusi. Regardless of where the starting point is, you end up traveling the Gannan mini loop.

The most common way to go is to rent/charter a car after flying into Lanzhou. However, if you want to save a bit more effort, Xiahe also has an airport, with direct flights from cities such as Chengdu, Xi'an, Yinchuan, Lhasa and Tianjin.

The Gannan Mini-Circuit can be completed in about 3-4 days, which is very friendly to office workers with little vacation time.

Taking Lanzhou as an example:

Day1: Lanzhou→Labranglen Temple→Langmusi Temple

DAY2: Langmusi Temple→Gahai→Zagana

DAY3: Zagana→Lanzhou

Also by virtue of its geographic location, the Gannan Mini-Circuit has much more room for adjustment.

If your vacation time is long enough, after taking the Gannan Small Loop, you can seamlessly connect to the Western Sichuan Loop to the southwest and the Great Northwest Loop to the north, which can be either long or short, making the route very flexible.

And the overall road conditions in Gannan are also better than in Tibet, which is also very suitable for newcomers to self-drive tours.

In terms of area alone, Gannan is only 1/2 the size of next-door Aba Prefecture and 1/4 the size of Ganzi Prefecture, but Gannan is really so wonderful!

Gannan is located in the "Horse Region of Amdo", which is the most important pastoral area in Tibet; at the same time, Gannan is also the core area of Amdo's national religious culture, represented by Labrang Monastery, which has a wide and far-reaching influence on the outside world.

Official publicity with the "nine colors of Gannan", said this meaning.

Red temples and monasteries, orange coral beads, yellow pagodas;

Green grasslands and forests, green Ani Nianqing, blue skies and lakes;

Purple Tibetan Bodhi, black yaks, white snow-capped mountains and white clouds? Gannan does have the capital of beauty effortlessly.

What exactly can you do on the Gannan Minor Circuit? Let's start from Xiahe and go counterclockwise.

Route: Xiahe→Langmusi→Maqu→Ruoergai→Diebu→Cooperation

Xiahe

Xiahe is the first stop for many people traveling in Gannan.

There are 121 Tibetan Buddhist temples in the whole of Gannan, and the most famous, highest-status, and most visited Labrang Monastery is in Xiahe.

The Labrang Monastery was also featured in the movie "No Thieves Under Heaven"

The fact that Xiahe can be ranked as one of the "three major ancient cultural centers of the Tibetan region" alongside Lhasa in Tibet and Dege in Sichuan province is also attributed to the Labrang Monastery.

Labrang Monastery is one of the six major monasteries of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism, and the most complete Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the world in terms of its system of Tibetan studies.

Labrang Monastery has set up six colleges of different specialties, which require very hard study to pass the examination, and are no less difficult than our examination for university.

Even without faith, Labrang Monastery is well worth a stroll.

The temple is a very grand building, which houses countless precious Buddha statues, sculptures, murals, dharma vessels, and Tibetan scriptures.

There is also a long corridor around three sides of the temple, the longest in the world, a **** 1700 + drums, all need to turn about 1.5h.

Leaving Labrang Monastery and then down the road, the scenery around the beginning of the change, about half an hour's drive, Sangke Grassland will be there.

The Sanko grassland in summer is a place where you can embrace the wind, and the Xianglang Festival, mentioned earlier, is also an important festival in Sanko.

The view of the Hulunbeier Prairie is that of an endless prairie, while the low ground in the middle of Sanko is the prairie, with mountains rising and falling all around.

There are yurts on the grassland, but the accommodation is average, not too recommended to stay in Sanko.

Langmusi

Langmusi is not a temple, but a town.

There is a small stream less than two meters wide in the middle of the town, but the locals call it the "White Dragon River". The Bailongjiang River belongs to Luqu in Gansu to the north and Ruoerge in Sichuan to the south.

Gerdi Temple in Sichuan and Dacang Langmusaiqi Temple in Gansu, two temples across the river, both belong to the broader sense of Langmusi.

The whole Langmusi is a perfect blend of temples and residential areas, with golden roofs, white pagodas, and pious believers everywhere,

Compared with the solemn temples, Langmusi's lamas are more like my neighbors, who would go out shopping and buy snacks, and the mystery of the religion disappeared in Langmusi.

Langmusi is the kind of town where you stay and feel at peace. It's very primitive and simple, but it's a town after all, so it's perfect for a supply stop on the way around the circuit, and there are relatively more options for restaurants and accommodation.

Maqu

I think the first half of the Gannan Minor Circuit can be described as a religious and humanistic highlight, and once you enter Maqu, the natural scenery starts to steal the show.

The most important scenery in Maqu is the Awancang Wetland, the "China National Geographic" selection of "China's most beautiful grassland wetland", she is the first.

Gongqu, Sailqu, Daojiqu three rivers and the Yellow River converge here, because the terrain is relatively flat, forming a very large number of water systems. Wetlands and lakes coexist, snow-capped mountains and the Yellow River, the whole scenery is very Shambhala.

Maqu in Tibetan, is the "Yellow River" means. In the territory of Maqu, there is the Yellow River "nine curves and eighteen bends", the most favored one.

The Yellow River flows into Maqu in Gannan from Goluo in Qinghai, and after five 180° bends, it flows into Qinghai again, which is the first bend of the Yellow River.

Even if you ascend to the observation deck, it's still a bit of a stretch to get a panoramic view, so it's best to bring a small airplane for aerial photography.

China's three major wetlands, one of the Ruoergai, in fact, more than in Sichuan's Ruoergai County, Qing, Sichuan and Gansu provinces have. A small piece in Gansu is located in the territory of Maqu.

Diebu

Zagana, which means "stone box" in Tibetan, is also a high point on the Gannan mini-circuit.

Rock, the American explorer, spoke very highly of the place: "I have never seen such beautiful scenery in my life. If the author of Genesis had ever seen the beauty of Diabe, he would have placed the birthplace of Adam and Eve here."

She consists of four small Tibetan villages tucked away in a pile of lofty mountains, in descending order according to their mountainous terrain: Dongwa Village (the largest), Yezhi Village (terraced sea of flowers), Dari Village (with the most beautiful sunrise), and Daiba Village (the highest altitude).

The road in and out of Zagana is still a bit difficult to travel, resulting in a place that still maintains its original scenery and lifestyle.

Combined with the environment surrounded by snow-capped mountains and canyons, Zagana is as beautiful as a secret place where man and god **** dwell.

For outdoor enthusiasts, Zagana is a must-visit paradise.

There are 17 canyons with mountain peaks, gorges, rivers, virgin forests and remnants of Quaternary glacial landforms, and each route is beautifully and unapologetically the same.

The village aborigines also have a very traditional way of life, with sunrise and sunset, as well as daily rituals of simmering and turning stupas.

There is accommodation in Zagana, but it's in average condition, and there will be more choice in the county town of Diabe. But the starry sky at night and the sunlit mountains in the morning are also really beautiful.

Cooperation

Wrapping up the cooperation is the capital of Gannan Prefecture, the main attraction is Milarepa Buddhist Pavilion. The entire Tibetan area a *** on two Mira Riba Buddha Pavilion, cooperation of this is the only enshrined in the Tibetan Buddhist sects of patriarchs of the high-level famous temple.

The cabinet exterior is made of green quartzite, not a wood; and the cabinet interior is a wooden structure, can not see a stone, "outside the wood, inside the stone is not seen," said.

Mira Riba Buddha Pavilion of the pavilion a **** 9 layers, each layer represents a different era and theme. Remember to go clockwise when visiting, although you can not take pictures, with the eyes to record the beautiful murals and decorations inside the pavilion will be good.

After arriving at the cooperation you can drive back to Lanzhou with a bang, a 3-hour drive, the whole highway.

The American travel magazine Discover described Gannan as an outdoor paradise where "life feels free," and I couldn't agree more.

While there are no majestic snow-capped mountains and seas in Tibet, and the scenery is a little less impressive, Gannan has hidden villages, pure faith, and Gannan's own irreplaceable flavor.

Holiday tension, severe high altitude sickness, or want to see a different landscape, the next trip may wish to consider considering her.