Sichuan - Tibetan Highway

Shangri-La > Xiangcheng > Litang > Kangding > Chengdu

Our journey from Shangri-La to Chengdu took us through the prefecture of Garze; a region of the Sichuan province that was part of Tibet prior to Chinese rule. It is very difficult to get travel permits into Tibet, but with a population made up of almost 80% ethnic Tibetans this is a good place to travel to experience Tibetan culture.

The journey through Garze involves long bus trips up into the high altitudes of the Tibetan plateau. Most of the roads along this route are unsealed, narrow and winding; often with shear cliffs to one side to keep things interesting. There are breath taking views of snow-capped mountains, snow covered rolling hills, areas with thousands of large boulders, beautiful rivers flowing through valleys, as well as small Tibetan-style villages.

This part of our trip took us off the beaten track and we gained a lot of interest by the locals and other passengers on the bus. During a lunch stop Alana had an audience of around 40 locals listening in as she explained that we were from New Zealand. Many found this highly amusing as one energetic fellow told us he thought we were American.

As we have found with most things in China, best laid plans rarely turn out as expected - this was no exception. On arrival in Xiangcheng after a 10 hour bus trip we looked for a place to stay the night before continuing on to Litang. We noticed a very strong police presence in this one road town, with several mobile police stations and a large number of patrolling officers. The hotel that we found was very run down (I will spare you from the details*) and we appeared to be the only guests.

The next day we continued on to Litang, which at an altitude of 4014m is one of the highest cities on the planet. After our 6 hour trip we went out for lunch, which ended early as Alana was feeling ill (possibly a touch of altitude sickness). Back at the hostel we had a knock on our door from a policeman asking for details of our stay. We produced our passports and answered the questions and he moved on. Later on we went for an evening walk around the city in the direction of the Tibetan monastery. The police presence in Litang was even more noticeable than in Xiangcheng, with mobile police stations at every major intersection, and patrolling police and military on every street. Although there were no hostilities there was a distinct tension in the air. As we approached the monastery in the northern part of the city we were approached by a police car, and the same officer that visited our hostel got out to greet us. He asked whether we were on the way to see the monastery, then politely informed us that we had to turn around and we would also need to leave Litang the next day. The young officer was genuinely apologetic while delivering the news, but there was not much that could be done other than accepting and moving on.

While having dinner we bumped into the only other foreigners in Litang who had been issued the same instructions. On a side note, we had a delicious Tibetan meal of dried Yak meat and root vegetables - yum!

On later reflection we found that we had arrived in Litang on the anniversary of the destruction of the Tibetan monastery during the Tibetan uprising - the same monastery that we were on our way to visit. We were aware of the history of Litang, but I have never been one for dates. In recent times there have been protests and violence in this area around this time of year, and we were lucky to get a chance to visit, even if only for a brief period. Although it would have been nice to visit the historical sites, what we did experience was certainly eye opening.

Sooo... after two consecutive days on the road we found ourselves awake before sunrise to set off on a 12 hour journey to Kangding. We managed to find a private convoy of two 4WD's travelling to Kangding that offered us a lift for a reasonable fare. Alana was sitting in the middle seat next to a lady that didn't seem too pleased to be sharing the back seat, and started a subtle fight for foot space and then proceeded to fall asleep on Alana's shoulder. The road between Litang and Kangding is under construction and the current road is literally like an off-road 4WD track. Not long into the trip the suspension on one of the rear wheels of our vehicle gave way, and we were kindly transferred to the other vehicle in the convoy for the rest of the trip. Even with the mechanical difficulties we were able to make it to Kangding in only 10 hours - much faster than if we had travelled by bus.

After two nights in Kangding we proceeded to Chengdu for a well deserved 4 night stay. We spent some time exploring the city, visited a panda sanctuary, relaxed along the river at a tea house in the small town of Pingle, and ate lots of great spicy Sichuan cuisine. I have already written far too much, but check out the photos for more!

* Alana will gladly give full disclosure if questioned in regards to our $10/night room