Minya Konka West - loved by many photographers

Minya Konka is the name of the big mountain massif located in western Sichuan province in Garden Prefecture near Kangding. It is home to many big mountains that are over 6000 meters with the highest peak Mt. Gongga at 7556m, the highest mountain in Sichuan and the easternmost 7000er on earth. Thus is has many places of interest to see around the mountains including glaciers, snow-capped mountains, big valleys, wildlife, lakes and more.

West of Minya Konka Mountains

Since it is such a big place that to see all of its beauty will take a long time or it will take separate trips. This article is mainly about travel information of the west of Minya Konka including sights in Yulongshi Valley (Langgatso Lake, Quanhuatan Calcium Lakes, etc), Road passes where one can see the full range of the mountain (including Yaha Pass, Tsemd Pass, Yulongshi Pass, etc), Other lakes such as Lisuo Lake. This article is based on our years of experience working/exploring there.

Unlike the North, the west part of Minya Konka can be largely accessed by cars with some walkings necessary. It is loved by many photographers not only because of its relatively easier access but also because the west side provides mirror views over the lakes during sunset on the mountains, making itself a perfect photograph to make.

Mt. Daddomain

Langgatso Lake

Langgatso Lake is probably the most popular spot in west Minya Konka for photographers in recent years. It has one of the best mirror views of Minya Konka. Langgatso Lake is located by Bangmujide village in Yulongshi Valley around 3km walking from the base. Langgatso requires 20 yuan entrance fee for each visitor. It also has horses available for riding if one doesn't feel like walking. The walking will be from around 4000m to around 4500m normally takes around 2-3 hours in medium pace. It is one of the must see places in west Minya Konka. But whether you will see the mountains will depend on the weather. Normally in April, May, October and November will have relatively more stable weather conditions while the green seasons June, July August and September should also possibly have good weather days.

So what happens when one wants to shoot the sunset views and when one goes back down it's already dark? Would the trail be safe to walk in the dark? Well this is a common scenario a lot of photographers face. The trail is basically safe to walk in the dark once you slow down, use headlamp and use a guide. The trail is not marked although it's a good trail but there is still possibility you may get lost in the dark especially when weather is not good: snowy, misty or rainy. It's not comfortable to walk in the dark if you are not an experienced hiker.

There is another option that you can camp by the lake for one night during certain seasons. For camping you may need to bring up more gears than usual. Camping provides more chances of taking photos and also when it's clear shots of the milky way possible. Camping may also not be comfortable since the elevation here is very high at around 4500m. You will need to bring proper sleeping bag and other warm-keeping gears for the night. You can hire local horses to bring up the gears for you and let them come up the next morning to fetch you down.

Hiking Langgatso Lake in winter

Hiking Langgatso Lake

Hiking Langgatso in summer

Langgatso Lake and the mountains

Above Langgatso Lake

Entrance of Langgatso

One of the best photo spot of West Minya Konka

Lake of Langgatso

Camping by Langgatso

Langgatso is a green beautiful lake

Langgatso Lake

Rejie Lake

Rejie Lake is not a famous lake in West Minya Konka but rather a wild lake that few go to. Rejie is good for a hard day hiking and less good for photography due to its hard access. One can do a day hiking from Shangmuju village to Rejie. It has two lakes by the top. The walking is hard: from Shangmuju at around 3750m to the lake at around 4550m, a total of 800m ascent and 800m descent in a single day. Total walking distance is around 7km single way, making it total 14km. This lake can not be accessed by horses or motorbikes but only walking. The hiking itself is also hard and steep. We recommend only fit and acclimated hikers to do this hike. The lake Rejie is beautiful. The lower lake is deep and has color of deep blue, a bit like the 5-color lake in Yading Nature Reserve. There is also mirror view of Minya Konka mountains over the lake but the photo frame is tighter than that of Langgatso but the color of the lake is much more beautiful than that of Langgatso Lake.

Rejie Lake

Rejie Lake in Summer

Rejie Lake from Above

Rejie Lake in Clear Day

Rejie Lake and Minya Konka

Rejie Lake is crystal clear

Rejie Lake

Waterfall

Quanhuatan Calcium Lakes

Quanhuatan is the name of the calcified ponds on the mountain side near Yulongshi Village. It is a cluster of small calcified ponds located by three different stages over the side of the mountain. Quanhuatan requires a 20 yuan entrance fee for each visitor. There used to be motorbikes available to take people up but now visitors can only walk up. The walking is not so long total around 3km. From base at 3950m to the top at around 4250m it takes around 2hours total by walking. Although the calcified ponds are mainly located by the clusters by first two stages by 4050m and 4150m. On the top there is a small natural hot spring that smells really bad. Walking back from the ponds one doesn't have to follow the same way but on the side of the ponds by it's North so to see the ponds from higher. A visit to the calcium lakes takes around 3-4 hours total.

Calcium Lake

Calcium Lake Hike

Calcium Lake Hike in summer

Tsemed Road Pass

Tsemed Road pass is also called Zimei Pass that is around 4600m high and it is the road pass between Shangmuju Village and Zimei Village. It has one of the best photo spots for a panoramic view of Minya Konka West. By driving it takes around 40 minutes to get to the pass from Shangmuju by the base. Most visitors that travel to the west of Minya b konka will come to this pass to see the mountains and possibly the cloud below in the valley. The road is not a very good road normally we recommend you to use a local transfer from the village since the local drivers know the road much better. Tsemed Pass is a perfect place to watch sunset as well and it is a lot more convenient to do sunset shot than other places since it can be accessed by car. Tsemed Pass may not be a good place to camp because it is too windy and there is no water source by the pass. The pass is at around 4600m.

Road to Zimei Pass

Zimei Pass

Zimei Pass View

Zimei Pass Landscape

Yulongshi Pass

Yulongshi Pass is a hiking pass that can only be accessed by hiking. It is at around 4550m between Yulongshi Valley and Moxi Valley. From this pass one can see the full range of Minya Konka west including most of it's mountains. The view of the mountains is in between Langgatso and Tsemed Pass but feels closer. This place basically has no visitor due to it's relatively hard access. One needs to walk for around 4 -5hours to get to the pass. Camping is not recommended since there is no water by the pass. But this trail is accessible by horses.

Yulongshi Pass

Yulongshi Pass

Yaha Road Pass

Yaha Road Pass is a road pass between Xinduqiao and Yulongshi at around 4500m that provides excellent views of West Minya Konka. Although due to local restrictions the road has been shut off since 2018. It is expected to be renovated and reopen in the next few years. Driving via Yaha to west of Minya Konka to the villages of Yulongshi and Shangmuju saves around 2 hours of driving and provides better views. We hope this road will be open and available soon.

Marmot

Upper Yulongshi Landscape

Shangmuju Village

Lisuo Lake

Lisuo Lake is a small lake by the south of Tsemed. Lisuo is a very beautiful lake due to its turquoise color. From Lisuo one can see the full range of Minya Konka Mountains over the lake. The view of mountains from Lisuo looks similar to that of Tsemed Pass. To get to Lisuo one needs to use a motorbike for around 40 minutes. It is total 16km from the village of Shangmuju so by hiking one can't do it in one day.

Lisuo Lake is at the elevation of 4650m and the pass to get to the lake is also at 4650. It is a gain of 900m from the village. Camping is possible but it is very high altitude for camping. The motorbike riding is not comfortable according to our experience but luckily it's not s long one. Although one can always hike up the lake. By hiking one can use car for the first 4km and only walk the other 12km.

We provide Photography Trip to west of Minya Konka covering the highlights of the places that are good to take photos including Langgatso, Tsemed Pass and Lisuo Lake.

Trip Planning

A photography trip to Minya Konka West in the link above is what we think a good plan to do. You may add on one or two days or even more days to maximize your chance of seeing the mountains at its best moment.

Since around 2010 people start to come in here by driving. There are guesthouses providing rooms for overnight. At the moment (2022) these accommodations are basically very basic ones. When you stay in a guesthouse you also eat there. The two villages of Yulongshi and Shangmuju are the places where you find these guesthouses. These villages are small and authentic nothing like touristy place like the east side of Minya Konka by Hailuogou. There are basically no shops no separate restaurants in the villages.

Road Condition is not reliable since 2018. There is messed-up management of the road construction that the road-building was stopped half way for 4 years now(2022). It will likely to be improved soon but the road has restrictions that only certain hours one can drive through the road check before arriving to the villages, meaning during certain hours it will shut off. When making planning this should not be neglected. Please do call your hostel to check the road access before you arrive.

Which part of Minya Konka to choose to travel to? Read details of comparison of three treks of Minya Konka.