Kangding, or Dardo in Tibetan, is a medium sized town in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, approximately 360km to the west of provincial capital, Chengdu. The town is seemingly wedged into a narrow valley surrounded by tall mountains and then further cloven in half by the Zheduo River.

Kangding's popularity as a tourist destination stems primarily from the fact that it is about as close as you can come to experiencing Tibet, without the difficulty of actually going there. The township is populated mainly by Han Chinese and people of Tibetan ancestry, on a ratio of around 50:50. Scenery in surrounding areas, grasslands, snow-capped mountains, glaciers, hot springs and red-cheeked horsemen will give a pretty authentic experience, sans the altitude sickness Tibet is likely to induce—hopefully.

The years have been kind to Kangding and its inhabitants, where traders from Sichuan and the foothills for Tibet conducted business peacefully for many centuries. Tibetans raised horses to trade for Han tea grown in Kangding's surrounding areas. 

Prior to the 1950's and the Communist Party's defeat of the Guomingdang (Kuomingdang - Chinese Nationalist Party), Kangding was the capital city of Xikang Province. The now defunct province encompassed much of Sichuan province and Tibet's Kham region. Kangding was provincial capital for just over a decade.  

The city was once immortalized in a folk song entitled "Kangding Qingge" (Kangding Love Song), which was recently repopularized by pop singer William So.

You might find Kangding a little chillier than many other places in China. The climate is best described as monsoonal, bringing heavy rains in the months from June to early September. The township is situated a bit more than two thousand meters above sea-level, contributing to low temperatures—even during the summer months, where noon-time temperatures peak at around 15°C (59°F) . Winter temperatures are well into the negatives, so rug up if you plan a winter trip.