Ganzi

Ganzi here means Ganzi Xian, the county under Garze Prefecture. The county shares the same name of the prefecture but its not the same place. Garze is a larger place that covers Ganzi. Ganzi is far and its beauty is usually not mentioned a lot in many travel books. Ganzi has a wild mountain range called Gangga. In Ganzi there is also a holy mountain called Kawalori, one of the least explore big mountains in Sichuan. From Ganzi on, one can go further to visit Sertar Larung Gar Buddhist School, or westwards to Derge to Chola Mountains, or Yarchen Gar the biggest Nunnery in Tibet.

Ganzi County in Autumn

The city of Ganzi is a county level town. It has an elevation of 3400m above sea level. From Chengdu it is 650km that takes around 12-15 hours to drive. Ganzi is often an underrated place to travel to due to the many famous places around Ganzi including Yading, Larung Gar and Yarchen Gar. the mountains in Ganzi are not as high or prominent as that of Chola or Yading but because its far so not many has explored this place and its beauty is still hidden and unseen, unknown to the world. From 2020 there is a new airport built that has one direct flight from Chengdu everyday for about 1 hour. The ariport is called Gesar Airport.

Gangga Mountains South

Gangga Peaks

Gangga Range is located in Shalulishan Range in Hengduanshan in northwest of Sichuan Province on Tibetan Plateau. It is in the northern part of Shalulishan Range and southeast to the Chola Mountain Range. It is home to dozens of 5000+ meters unclimbed mountains. Over half the mountains in Gangga Range are technical and mixed climb. The mountains in Gangga are mostly not climbed nor even explored. Most photos of Gangga that are available are taken from the roads and not close up from mountains. One feature about Gangga is that you can find the easiest 5000-m high points to get to from roads.

Kawalori

Kawalori Holy Mountain

Kawalori South Face

Kawalori was usually considered to be part of the range but from some source it is considered to be a separated range . Kawalori is the highest mountain in this range, being 5992 meters above sea level. It is a holy mountain in both Ganzi and Xinlong. Ganzi is by the north of Kawalori and Xinlong is by the south of Kawalori, both places worship Kawalori as mountain god. Kawalori is located by the east of Yalong River while Gangga Mountains are located by the west of Yalong River. Yalong River is one of the main rivers on eastern Tibetan Plateau.

There is a pilgrimage walk around Kawalori that takes around 2-3 days starting from the north of the mountain.

Ganzi Monastery

Ganzi Monastery

Ganzi Monastery Above the Town

Ganzi Monastery is the biggest monastery in Ganzi and a main Gelugpa Monastery that is located north of the town of Ganzi. It was built in the 1800s.

Kasa Lake

Kasa Lake

Kasa Lake is a big lake located 60km west to town of Luhuo, and 40km east to the town of Ganzi. It is by the drive way. Normally visitors stop here to take photos from the roads above. This lake is also home to many different kinds of migrate birds. There is one nunnery and one monastery by the lake. Kasa is a holy lake to local people.

There are plenty of options on hotels in Ganzi that can take foreigners. The town of Ganzi is quite developed with hotels and roads. Public bus is available from Chengdu to Ganzi Xian each day from Xinnanmen Bus Station.

It is open to visitors all year round.