At 4,187 meters above sea level, the town of Litang is known as the highest county seat in the world. Situated in the far west of Sichuan Province, 385 kilometers west of Kangding, capital of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Litang is famous for its boundless Maoya Grassland. It is known as Letong in Tibetan, “le” means bronze mirror and “tang” means grassland. Once the site of a bazaar at which tea and horses were traded, Litang is the transportation, cultural and commercial center of southern Ganzi. Covering an area of 14,000 square kilometers, the county is populated by seven nationalities, with Tibetans accounting for 94 percent of the total. The local economy is pastoral based. Nomads graze yaks, goats, sheep and horses on Litang’s high plateau grasslands, as they have done for generations. Litang is also host to a major horse racing festival in early August, attracting thousands of Tibetans from all over the plateau, and from Qinghai, Sichuan and Tibet. The Tangqincunker Monastery, which is a huge Yellow sect temple with magnificent Palaces and thousands of Lamas.

Horse Races Festival

The annual Litang Horse Race, held at Litang from August 1 to 7th, is the most celebrated holiday on the Chinese Tibetan grasslands. The Tibetans will come from far away and set tents to wait for the big days very early. After the wonderful ceremony with traditional Tibetan dancing and songs, the most exciting event is the horse race. The brave riders will take their pretty decorated horses to participate the races and showcase their excellent horse riding skills, such as picking up the scarlet on the back of a fast running horse, shooting at targets while on the gallop, etc. The women are all in their most beautiful best with magnificent jewelry as they shower their applauses on their heroes. The festival is also a good time for trade and various Tibetan-style goods are exchanged here amongst the visitors from all over.

Kham Tibet

When speaking of "Tibet" we refer to the area which is named the "Tibetan Autonomous Region" (the TAR), with Lhasa as the capital of this region.When speaking of "Tibetan Cultural Area" we mean the areas traditionally inhabited by Tibetans, including the TAR and the areas of Kham and Amdo.

In the areas of Kham and Amdo - featured by precipitous snow-capped mountains, sparkling glaciers, vast pasture, deep river valleys - bordering provinces Sichuan,Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu lives a group of ancient Tibetans. Kham is composed of pieces of eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, western Sichuan, southeast Qinghai, and northwest Yunnan; Amdo - Qinghai, southwest Gansu and northwest Sichuan.

Because of historical reasons, various sects, such as the "Red Sect", the "Striped Sect", the "White Sect", the "Black Sect" and the "Yellow Sect" that eventually developed within Tibetan Buddhism and the indigenous Tibetan religion known as Bon, have coexisted here and add radiance and splendor to one another, creating a unique Buddhist spirit that can only be found in this region. Here are Gonggar Mountain called the First Peak in the Land of Abundance (Sichuan province is named the Land of Abundance), the Horse-racing Hill, holy mountains Amnyemaqen in Qinghai and Meili Xueshan in Yunnan, the world-famous Dege Monastery and its Printing House of Buddhist Scriptures. You will find the famous Tibetan monasteries and temples like Labrang Monastery, Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Si), Dzochen Temple, Babang Lamasery, Tagong Monastery, Larong Monastery with its grand Wuming Buddhism Study Institute, Gathog Monastery, Paiyul Monastery, Litang Monastery and Garze Monastery, etc. will make the tour a climax. The Yangtse and the Yellow River take its source from this area. The Sichuan-Tibet Highway, the Yunnan-Tibet Highway and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, running across this region acting like endless bridges over ancient culture and modern civilization throughout the history.

　

Trekking Gnyen Holy Mountain in Litang

　

　

home