Discover Sichuan. Road Trip from Danba to Xinduqiao via Tagong (塔公) (Episode 4)

Описание: We left Danba for Xinduqiao, via Tagong. Today’s road trip was short, covering only 150 km.

Among the attractions along the route are monasteries and scenic landscapes, notably Mount Yala.

Mount Yala (亚拉雪山) is one of the four holy mountains in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It is visible from its north side from Daofu county. The west side can be viewed from Tagong.

The area around the mountain is surrounded by over a dozen ravines with amazing, picturesque views, and the peak is covered by snow all year round. Mount Yala is sacred to the local Tibetans, who often kneel to pray at the foot of the mountain.

Huiyuan Monastery (惠远寺) is our next stop. It was built in the 17th century by the Qing Emperor YongZheng (雍正帝). The 7th Dalai Lama lived here for 7 years. In 1838, the 11th Dalai Lama was born at the nearby village of the temple, which added more reputation to the temple. This monastery covered 50,000 square metres and had more than 1,000 monk chambers.

Next stop is Tagong (塔公) with an altitude of 3,700m. Tagong is famed for its grassland, scenic view of Mount Yala and Tagong Monastery.

After the usual overwhelming lunch, we proceeded to the viewing platform that offers a bird's eye view of Tagong and its surrounding, including Mount Yala.

Tagong Monastery was built right at the heart of the town during Qing Dynasty to consecrate the replica of the sacred statue of Sakyamuni at Jokhang Temple in Lhasa along with scriptures of the Sakya Buddhist sect and other cultural relics more than 1000 years old.

We did not enter the monastery, but instead chilled outside its perimeter. This place seemed to be a popular location for photography.

Tagong Grassland (塔公草原) is a vast expanse of meadow covering an area of 712 square kilometres and located at 3900 metres in elevation.

These beautiful grasslands are home to Tibetan nomads grazing their herds of yaks and living in traditional black yak wool tents and one would need to ride on horses to reach the interior to appreciate.

Unfortunately, this is not part of our plan and our focus in this trip is Daocheng Yading. Perhaps we should return some time to explore this part of Sichuan.

We reached Xinduqiao and will stay here for a night before we embark on a long drive the next day through high altitude passes to Shangri-la town, the base to explore Daocheng Yading.

00:47 Mount Yala Viewing Point from Daofu
01:54 Huiyuan Monastery
03:35 Tagong

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