Rongchag Tibetan Village [Ganzi]

"One of Top Six Most Beautiful Towns and Villages in China"
Ranked by China National Geoegraphy Magazin

Rongchag Tibetan Village in Danba County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province: Fine people in a deep valley Danba County----The County with Thousands of Pillboxes

The most outstanding places for Tibetan houses in Rongchag are Zhonglu, Jiaju, Niexia and the Meiren Valley. Seeing from a distance, the hundreds of homes hidden in the dense mountain forest look like a magnificent landscape painting.

Rongchag Tibetan Village is located in Garze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture in west of Sichuan Province. Five rivers merge here----the Greater and the Lesser Jinchuan, the Geshedra, the Donggu and the Dadu. The area is characterized by towering rivers. Scattered among the mountains below the snowline are Tibetan-inhabited villages such as Zhonglu, Pujiaoding, Dazhai, Jiaju and Badi with their own distinct architectural styles. The stepped- back red stone houses, shaded by many different kinds of tree, have a beauty beyond the ordinary. In front and behind the houses grow apple, pear and walnut trees, and in autumn, there are just too many fruits to be harvested. Sometimes, the sound of fruits dropping to the ground and be heard deep into the night. The villages and nature live in great harmony here. Besides, there are many sites here in Rongchag that shed light on the mysterious past ---including stone coffins dating from 5,000 years ago and, perhaps the best known, its ancient watchtowers.

The watchtowers ate military structures left behind by previous generations. They are generally between 20 and 30 meters high, and are a building form unique to Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups; as a result, they are widely distributed in areas inhabited by these minorities. However, it is in Rongchag that the greatest concentration and variety of watchtowers can be found, providing examples of every architectural style. Most of the watchtowers in present day Rongchag are relics of campaigns fought along the greater and lesser Jinchuan river during the Qing Dynasty (1644--1911).Watchtowers out in the wilds are usually village watchtowers, but the majority belongs to individual households. As an integral part of the house, they witnessed the relationship between routine daily life and the life of heroes. In the history of Rongchag, life and warfare were the same. There is a kind of harmony between the watchtowers and villages. They do not clash; the earth and stone watchtowers in tune with the fields combine perfectly, bringing into clearer relief the shifting relationship between war and peace.

Danba County lies in the east of Ganzi Prefecture, called "Zhang Valley "in old times. It is the east gate of Ganzi Prefecture, in the joint of two major travel loop lines of the west part of Sichuan. Not only assembling Bayankala Mountain rang and Qionglai Mountain range together, but also gathering Geshizha River, Yak River and both of the two Jin Rivers to Dadu River, Danba county regarded as " the first town on the side of Dadu River".

Because the amount of ancient watchtower here, Danba County is also called" the county with thousands of pillboxes", and because here produces beauties, it is also called "the beauty valley ". Here there are the sites of ancient humankind activities 5,000 years ago. It has completely kept the life customs of Jiarong Tibetan, and here has the scenic spots of The Fist Living Village, scenery gallery, Yak's ditch, and magical Mo’erduo Mountain and Dangling Mountain.

Best time to go
From May to November
An average annual temperature is from 57.56F, in August is 72.32F and in January is 39.92F. Different temperature is more than 75.2F between on the top of mountain and river valley.

Ticket
Jiaju Tibetan Village: RMB 20/person, Watchtowers: RMB 15/person

Around Landscape
Mountain Gongga, Hailuogou Glaciers, Moxi Town, Er’daoqiao Hot spring, Jinggang Temple, Nanwu Temple, Ganzi Temple, Cuopu Scenic Area, Yading Scenic Area, etc.

Local Snacks and Specialties
Zanba, The wine of highland barley wild oat, Ghee and Ghee Tea, Tricholoma Matsutake, Caladium, Chinese caterpillar fungus, Rhodiola root, etc.

Travel Tips
Bring warm clothes with you because weather is change to cold at night in mountain.
Wearing sunglasses protect you from the ice and snow.
No littering in the park. Wastes should be taken back to the tourist center.
Please take sunbonnet, sunglass, and suntan oil in summer.
Avoid getting AMS. Be sure to respect local customs and traditions.
Different temperature is more than 75.2F between on the top of mountain and river valley.

Distance
Beijing (2042 km) Chengdu (368 km) Kangding County (200 km) Danba County