Bala Gezong Park

Bala Gezong Park is a nature park of mountain gorge, river, forest and rocky/towery mountains by the borderland of Yunnan and Sichuan Province. It is 100km south to Derong County and 80km north to Shangrila of Yunnan. Bala Gezong Park is located in Diqing, Yunnan Province despite most of the mountains are in Sichuan Province, only that the entrance is by Yunnan side.

Balagezong Park

Balagezong Park

Balagezong Park

Balagezong Park

Bala Village

The word "Bala" is derived from the Tibetan transliteration, which means a Tibetan village migrating from Batang (a place north to here by the upper range of Yangtze River). Bala Village is located on the mountainside at an altitude of 2,900 meters under the Gezong Snow Mountain in the middle of the Shangri-La Grand Canyon, about 700 meters vertically up the Gangqu River Valley.

Bala Village people is the offspring of Sina Dorje. According to legend, more than 1,300 years ago, a powerful Tibetan tribe leader Sina Dorjee from Batang had made settlement here by migration and they have lived a life like a paradise isolated from the rest of the world. Nowadays, Bala Village can be called the Tusi Manor of Bala Village. It has become an authentic Tibetan folk customs center in Balagezong Scenic Area.

Recommended Time of Visit to Bala Village: 30 minutes

Shangrila Grand Canyon

Deep Gorge in Bala Gezong

The Shangri-La Grand Canyon is one of the deep canyons in Yunnan. It is about 154 kilometers long. It is different from the V-shaped canyons that many people have seen before. The "V-shaped canyon" has a narrower bottom, The upper part is open, and the cliffs and bottom of the Shangri-La Grand Canyon are U-shaped. The gorge is famous for its high, deep, dangerous, unique and wonderful landform. There are side gorges inside the gorge, and there are gorges on top of the gorge. There are hundreds of side valleys and most of these gorges are typical glacial water canyons. Glacier water canyons are mainly distributed on snow-capped mountains at higher altitudes because of the unique geological landforms (karst landforms) here.

This Gorge is at 2200 m above sea level and recommended visiting time is 1-1.5h.

Shambhala Natural Stupa

Stupa-shaped Mountain

The Shambhala Natual Stupa is a mountain called Mt. Qudeng that resembles a Stupa. It is translated as "Xiangququdeng" in Tibetan. The Tibetan "qudeng" means stupa. The stupa is generally white, so it is also called "Qudeng Garbo" (white stupa). Stupa is religious buildings that house relics and scriptures. The Qudeng Mountain in the Balagezong Scenic Area has a high resemblence of a circular stupa. The mountain itself is a beautiful "Qudeng Garbo" when it is covered by snow. Therefore, people also call this a natural stupa, which is one of the main landscapes of the scenic spot.

The Shambhala Stupa is located in the northeast of Gezong Snow Mountain. The natural pyramid-shaped peak is covered with white snow in certain seasons and stands tall under the sky. Next to it are statues of lamas and scriptures. These three are called the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Monk There is a pass at 4,250 meters above sea level that many Buddhists come to worship the mountain.

Tongtian Gorge

Tongtian Gorge is also called Dejinka. It is at 2100m and recommended to visit for around 0.5h. Tongtian Gorge is one of the side valleys of Shangrila Gorge. It is has deep as up to 4000m and very narrow by size. The drop of the gorge is over 1000 meters. This gorge leads to the mountains of Gezong.

Naidang Yak Ranch

Naidang Ranch is one of the highlights of Bala Gezong. It is part of Bala Village. There is a hiking trail from the base for around 7km that leads to the ranch with great views. Naidang Ranch is the closes place to see Bala Gezong Mountains. It is sorounded by mountains, and has open view of the ranch and village. Houses are made of stones. There are more challenging hiking may become available to exploring the higher lakes of Bala Gezong from here.

Recommended Time of Visit: 2-3 Hours

Ticket Information: 210 yuan per person including Tourist bus

Business Hour: 08:00-19:00

Tourist Line: 400-661-3399;0887-8229222