7 Days Gannan Tibetan Adventure

Welcome to Lanzhou! Today your flight will touch down in Lanzhou. Upon arrival, tour guide and driver will pick you up at the airport exit, and then transfer you to hotel. The rest of today is for you to relax and explore this northwestern historical city.

Recommanded sites : 

Zhengning Road Night Market.  It is a famous food street in downtown Lanzhou, where you can taste Beef Noodle, mutton and bread soup, lamb kebab and other different kinds of local cuisine and snacks.

After breakfast, we will drive to visit the Bingling Temple, a Buddhist cave with a long history of over 1,600 years. First, we will drive about 1.5 hours to Liujiaxia Dam. It is a big national hydroelectric reservoir on the upper Yellow River. 

From the dock, we need to take a speed boat to get to Bingling Temple. During the 40-50 minutes' boat ride, we can see a different section of Yellow River, very limpid and clear unlike the muddy sights seen in Lanzhou.

After getting off from the boat, walk several minutes to the entrance of Bingling Temple. The temple is actually a site of Buddhist grottoes filled with ancient Buddhist frescoes and sculptures caved into the rocks, along a long narrow valley of Yellow River. 

Lastly, leave Bingling Temple and drive to Xiahe.

Today we will keep traveling to Labrang Monastery. Spend the time visiting this most famous Esoteric Tibetan Buddhism in the world which is also one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug (Yellow Hat) school of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Its pilgrimage corridor has over 2000 prayer wheels, as the longest of its kind in the world. In the southwest corner of Labrang Monastery, there is an ancient wooden bridge. Walking crosses the bridge and walking up to the hill, you can enjoy a panoramic view of Labrang Monastery and surrounding.

After about 3 hours' driving, you will make a midway visit to Sangke Grassland which is a natural pasture of Tibetan nomads. The grass is lush like a blanket in summer and the cattle and sheep are herding in groups under the blue sky and white clouds. What a pastoral scenery. 

Then we will drive to Hezuo.

*Reminder:

① Do take off hats when you enter the main halls.
② Don't touch or point at the Buddhist statues.
③Don't take pictures in the main halls and Gongtang Pagoda.

After breakfast, we will visit Amdo Milarepa Temple. As one of the famous Buddhist temples of Amdo, the Mirageba Pavilion is magnificent and magnificent. The exterior of the Buddhist pavilion is made of stone.

After visiting, keep driving to Langmusi Town. Nicknamed as "Little Oriental Switzerland", Langmusi is surrounded by grassland, forests and hills.  Stepping into Langmu Temple, you can feel a strong atmosphere of religion seeing the colorful temples and prayer flags, which also adds a sense of Zen to the primitive nature scene. Staying here, people can easily calm down and find a little peace of mind.

Then you will reach Gahai Lake - a plateau lake with an altitude of 3479.7 meters. It is the habitat and breeding place for a great number of rare migrant birds.

After breakfast, we are going to explore the beautiful Ruoergai Grassland, which is a vast prairie with marshes, wetlands, valleys and hills, where you can experience the local nomads’ lifestyle. Jiuqu Yellow River is the First Blend of the Yellow River. Ascend the heights there and you will enjoy a spectacular view of this natural wonder.

Then we will visit a natural Wetland Pond on the vast prairie —— the Ruoergai Huahu Lake. This is the best place to watch the wild birds including the rare black Crane. Under the peaceful lake is a vast and unfathomable swamp. 

Walking along the plank beside the lake, you can enter the middle of the wetland. It is named after a kind of small white flowers blooming around the lake. When the weather is clear and windless, the lake is like a mirror with the reflection of the blue sky and white cloud, which has a sense of the world in the fairy tale.

Drive to Diebu County after that, we will stay over night here. Free activities, walk in the village with the sunset and feel the life.

After enjoying a nice breakfast, today we head to Zhagana Village —— a lush, verdant villages fill the space between the mountains. The stunning landscape, primitive forest, local Tibetan villages and unique culture will make you feel you never want to leave. 

Zhagana is an ideal place to hike. You can choose to hike to the monastery if you are interested in knowing more about Tibetan Buddhism, or if you love taking photos, hike to the top village and get the whole view of Zhagana from there.

Later in the day, drive back to Diebu for overnight stay.

*Reminder: 

①The altitude in Zhagana is 3,000 to 3,300 meters (9,800 to 11,000 feet) above sea level. 

② To prevent altitude sickness, remember to drink lots of water and take a slow pace.

③If you have any symptoms of altitude sickness, please feel free to let us know.

Today is our last day in the trip. We will drive to Lanzhou airport from Zhagana after breakfast. You can enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. At about 21:00, we will arrive at Lanzhou airport. And our trip will end here. Wish you have a pleasant journey home.