Mount Gongga Photo Tour – 5 Days

Start from Chengdu in the morning from your hotel and drive from the Chengdu plain into the mountains. It is total 360km from Chengdu to Xinduqiao. The driving will take around 5 hours. We will first go to Yala Pass after Kangding to take photos of the vast highland view near Kangding Airport. Yala Mountain Pass is between Kangding and Xinduqiao. It is a less popular but more equally beautiful road pass as Zheduoshan. Remember to move slow and try not to stress yourself physically as the elevation today is very high at over 4000m. Make sure you are warm and hydrated all the time. Arrive in Xinduqiao in the afternoon no late than 4-5pm and go directly to Yuzixi.

18:00-20:00 make sure to arrive Yuzixi by 18:00 and prepare to take photos of sunset of Minya Konka Mountains(In Summer it is later the sunset is as late as 20:00). There are sometimes traffic jam going up Yuzixi so it is safe to get there before sunset and make preparations ahead. The sunset lasts for around 15-20 minutes.

After shooting the sunset by Yuzixi, drive for around 40 minutes to your hotel in Xinduqiao and have a late dinner. Your guide will help you to check in and arrange dinner before hand. This is your first night of the trip please make sure you have enough time to sleep. You are recommended to not to take a shower in case of getting a cold. While you sleep try leave a bit of your windown open to let the air flow to ensure enough oxygen.

Honghaizi Lake

Near Kangding Airport

Yuzixi Sunset

Yuzixi

Start in the morning and go around Xinduqiao to shoot photos of the banyan trees in the morning light.

09:00-10:00 drive out of Xinduqiao by the road and take photo of the big trees by side of the road. There are a couple of good places to go to take such photos. Be careful of the cars and trucks on the road while taking photos.

Afterwards rive for around 3 hours to Quanhuatan, the calcium lakes of Minya Konka to walk up and take more photos. This is also acclimating walk for the afternoon so you don't have to rush. Total walking for around 1 hour to get to the first group of lakes and then another 40 minutes to the next group of lakes. The calcium lake is called Quanhuatan by local people. They are groups of small calcified cascading lakes on the side of the mountain above Yulongxi. Leave Quanhuatan no later than 16:00 to go to Shangmuju Village and check in rooms and sort your pack and gears, prepare for the evening activity.

17:00-18:00 leave to the road pass at Tsemd by local transfer. It takes around 30 - 40 minutes to get to the top. We may need to leave earlier if it is busy time to avoid possible traffic jam(In Summer sunset is by around 20:00). The pass is at around 4600 meters that provides you excellent views of Minya Konka west range. We will need to pack warm clothes, warm hats, rainproof gears, gloves, warm pants and warm shoes for today's shooting because it is very cold and windy by the pass. Be careful while walking after it gets dark. There are big drops and rocky terrains by the pass.

After take photos at the pass, drive down to the village and have dinner before go to bed.

At night you are free to come out to shoot milky way if it's clear. Please remember to keep warm at night.

In the morning after breakfast, use local motorbike to get to Lisuo Lake, one of the most beautiful lakes in West Minya Konka. By Lisuo we can take photos of mirrior lake of Minya Konka Mountains. We will spend around 2-3 hour here before we ride back to our lodge. We will have some time to relax before setting out for the next place Langgatso Lake. This morning you can also consider to have rest by the lodge instead of going to Lisuo Lake. Please note the transfer to Lisuo is by motorbike, the only way to get to Lisuo Lake quickly and usually riding a motorbike is not very comfortable especially on mountain trail.

14:00 we will leave to explore the lake of Langgatso. First drive for around 40 minutes to the base of Langgatso and then use a horse or walk to Langgatso, a lake that is 3km away from the road. Langgatso is one of the lakes here that is perfect for photo lovers. Please note the walking up from base of Langgatso to the lake is total 3km that usually takes around 2-3 hours for people who are not used to walking. There are horses available to rent and ride to the lake. Stay there late until sunset when the photos taken over the lake will be very beautiful. You are free to walk around the lake or even walk higher to the pass behind to gain more views of the mountains. Please keep warm and prepare some snacks with you since it gets cold after sunset. After the photo at Langgatso, come back down to the road and drive to lodge. Please remember to pack a headlamp with you today because it involves walking in the dark.

Arrive back to your lodge in the evening and have a late dinner before go to bed.

Today we will use our car to drive back. We will go to another beautiful place on this trip: Tagong. The drive will take around 3-4 hours. After we arrive in Tagong first we will have lunch before we go up the photo spot in Tagong and take photos of the Mt. Yala and the Muya golden top over grassland. Tagong, also named Lhagang, it is a very small town, home to one of the most widely-worshiped Sakya sect monasteries called Tagong monastery. It has an elevation of 3750 meters above the sea level. There is only one 500 meters street goes across this town. Tagong is an important place for the Tibetan Buddhism. Monastery and religion are fundamentally rooted in people's lives here. This is the place where you can take plenty of photos of local Tibetan people and monks. After the photo spot we will continue drive further to Anigongma Village to see a more authentic village of Tibetan people and monks and nuns. We will visit the big Mani Stone Pile, Anigongma Nunnery and Muya Grand Temple.

17:00 we will start to drive back to Xinduqiao from Tagong. Along the way we will have another chance to take photos in the dusk light before arrive to Xinduqiao by the road. Afterwards we will to check in hotel in Xinduqiao and have dinner.

In the morning we will start from Xinduqiao and drive back to Chengdu. We will make a long stop at Zheduoshan pass and walk up to shoot more photos of Minya konka and Lamoshe and the valleys and maybe even the cloud below our feet. Zheduoshan Road Pass the the original road pass that historically the spliting point of traditional Tibet and Chinese Areas. It is usually a very busy place because it is a famous place on national highway 318. It is the first pass from Chengdu to Lhasa. After around 2-3 hours by the pass we will continue drive all the way back to Chengdu. We will arrive at your hotel in Chengdu in the afternoon, tour ends.