How to Travel from Daocheng County to Yading Scenic Area

Where is Daocheng?

Daocheng County, the lovely acclimatizing base for Yading Scenic Area, is located in Graze, Sichuan. Located to the east of Hengduan Mountains, this small town emits a great deal of rural charm in spite of recent modernization for tourism. With an average elevation of 3,750m it is surrounded by similarly high elevated towns like Xiangcheng and Litang. The views and sceneries around are filled with hilly roads, snow mountains, barley fields, reflecting clear lakes and rivers, and paths that lead to more beauty.

Daocheng County

Some of the major attractions in Daocheng are Yading Scenic Area, Chonggu Temple, three Holy Mountain of Daocheng, Hell Canyon of Kasi, Benbo Temple, Haizi Mountain, and there are generally a lot of hills around to hike and explore. Daocheng is most famous for Yading Nature Reserve and three holy mountains in that area. Daocheng County enjoys a typical alpine monsoon climate. There is moderate sunshine all around the year. September and October are the best months to visit Daocheng with the clear skies and strong sunshine. The overall view becomes a mesh of bright colours with bright green tress, wild red grass, golden leaves, and bluish mountains.

Where is Yading Scenic Area?

Yading is located in the western Sichuan’s Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Yading Scenic Area is found in the southern Daocheng County and has an average elevation of 4,000m. This scenic area is a nature reserve which covers a total area of about 1344 sq. kms. It is more or less three hours from Daocheng County. Daocheng County is always is used as the base for visiting Yading Scenic Area. Yading is 430 kms from Kangding and 800 kms from Chengdu. Yading Nature Reserve is aptly called as the “last pure land on our blue planet.”

Yading Scenic Area

Yading was not known to the world for a very long time. The first person outside of China to visit and explore Yading was Joseph Rock in 1928. In July, 1931 issue of National Geographic more than 60 pages of the issue were dedicated to Dr. Rock’s photos taken in Yading. That was the first time the world saw and came to know of the incredible beauty of Yading Nature Reserve in Daocheng County. It is also said that the ‘Shangri La’ vividly detailed by James Hamilton in his book ‘The Lost Horizon’ is possibly best represented by the scenic beauty in Yading. Some of the major attractions in Yading are the three holy mountains, Chonggu Monastery, Luorong Pasture, Pearl Lake, etc.

8 Days Chengdu Daocheng Yading Tagong Danba Loop Tour

Daocheng to Yading via Riwa Town by Car

From Daocheng to Yading it takes about three hours if you go by car or bus. The route would be going via Riwa Town, famously also called as Shangri La town. Riwa is 110kms from Daocheng and from there Yading Nature Reserve is only 20kms. All the vehicles go via Riwa mainly because the ticket office for Yading is there and a lot of sightseeing buses start from Riwa town itself. So when you go by car you go till Riwa in your car and can shift to the bus from Riwa. Riwa is a good place for acclimatizing as it is in much lower altitude than Yading. People who are experiencing altitude sickness or the symptoms of altitude sickness can rest up in Riwa before spending a day in Yading. It is a pleasant and beautiful town and few years ago the town changed its official name as Shangri La to increase tourism.

Riwa Town

Can I Hike from Daocheng to Yading？

If you want to explore by hiking, you can trek inside Yading Nature Reserve. From Daocheng to Yading the only means to go are by bus, chartered car/ private vehicle, or shuttle buses that start from the airport or down town. If you are interested in hiking, Yading Nature Reserve has plenty routes to offer. It is high and wide enough to hike and explore for two days. There are three mountains inside the reserve you can hike around the mountains with a guide. In fact instead of touring and seeing all the attractions in the sightseeing bus you can explore the attractions by walk. The reserve has clear and easily understandable maps and directions at all the places, so it is not so easy to get lost in the reserve.

Hike from Daocheng to Yading

Below is a rough and small breakdown how much time it would take from one attraction to another while going by walk:

• From Park entrance to Chonggu meadow - 20mins
• Chonggu meadow to Pearl Lake - 60mins
• Chonggu meadow to Luorong Pasture - 150 to 180mins
• Luorong Pasture to Milk Lake - 120 - 150mins
• Milk Lake to Five Colour Lake - 45mins

Should I live in Daocheng or Yading?

When you arrive at Daocheng it is best to stay in Daocheng at least for a day. Tourists usually spend the night at Daocheng and set out towards Yading early neat day. The accommodations in Daocheng are pretty decent. There are small hotels and comfortable hostels in the area to stay. There are no luxury star hotels. Another interesting option would be staying at the local Tibetans’ houses. It would definitely be a different and cultural experience. But no matter where you stay you would be sharing your rooms with other tourists.

Comfortable Hostels in Daocheng

If you are planning to explore Yading for more than a day you can stay in Yading or Longtongba. There are a couple of camps outside the scenic area to stay. Even if you are hiking inside the scenic are you cannot camp or put a tent for the night. You have to come outside and stay. Apart from the camps there are wooden houses and Tibetan Folk Houses. There are newly built wooden houses and there are 2 or 4 cots in each rooms. In the Tibetan Folk Houses there will be one big room where 10 to 15 people can sleep for the night. Note that the conditions to stay in this place are just good enough only to sleep for the night and you won’t be able to get a room for yourself; you will mostly be sharing space with fellow travelers. For proper hotels and rooms you go to Riwa Town that you would have crossed en route to Yading from Daocheng.

Even though the trip to Daocheng Yading Nature Reserve may not be filled with comfort and luxury, it will surely be filled with beauty and grace of the mother Earth.