Siguniangshan (Four Maidens Mountain) features a quartet of snow-capped peaks and three major gorges, prompting at least one person to refer to the Swiss Alps as "the European Siguniangshan."  According to local legend, the peaks are the incarnations of four virginal girls dressed in pure white and following Tibetan lore, the area is home to a divine mountain queen. The highest peak, known as the Fourth Girl (Siguniang) reaches 6,250 m (20,505 ft), making it the second highest in Sichuan. The rugged approaches to the four summits take hikers through dense forests, alpine grasslands and mountain creeks, featuring beautiful views. Popular with climbers, three of the peaks have been conquered, while the precipitous and unstable fourth has yet to be summitted. Most visitors spend their time in the three deep valleys: Changping Valley (Long Peace Valley) is home to... more >>

Langmusi is a monastery town split into two little enclaves straddling the Sichuan-Gansu border and comes highly recommended by travelers for its friendly residents and for the opportunity to experience Tibetan nomad culture up close. There's plenty of great hiking around and you may even have the chance to see a sky burial.  Langmu Monastery and Gerdi Monastery on the far side of the river (in Sichuan) together form a monk-town that is quiet, peaceful and full of smiles. For those interested in horse treks through Langmusi's green highland hills and snowy peaks, there are several horse trekking outfits in town, mostly run by Chinese who hire Tibetans for low wages. However, if you talk to Leesha at Leesha's Café (great place for Western food by the way) she can hook you up with local Tibetans who hire out horses directly, contributing more directly to the l... more >>

In Sichuan's Danba County, the mountains soar up to 3,000 meters (9,845 ft) above sea level over pleasant little river valleys, and it can seem to trekkers as if each sharp turn in the rocky trail might open into a narrow valley with sturdy painted wooden Tibetan homes perched upon the cliffs, some so high on the mountainside that from dusk through dawn they can be mistaken for stars. You'll notice as you travel through Tibetan regions from the Tibetan Autonomous Region well into Sichuan province that every community builds its homes a bit differently. The Gyarong branch of the Tibetan people living in Danba build miniature castles of stone and wood that can withstand virtually any storm, have great natural insulation and more than enough space to harbor all humans and livestock in the general vicinity. These relatively modern homes and their older precursors—the tall watch... more >>

The ancient stone watchtowers dotting the landscape around western Sichuan's Danba County were built by the Qiang people. The Qiang have lived for centuries in the region, primarily in small mountain communities protected by stockades and, in many cases, towers. The towers originally served as storage silos as defensive lookouts that helped guard against ill-intentioned outsiders, especially marauding Gyarong Tibetans. Today's local population—many of them descendants of the aforementioned Gyarong Tibetans—use the towers for storage, but by and large they stand empty in villages and on mountainsides throughout Danba county. One of the best routes for exploring the land and viewing ancient towers takes you along the Dadu River from Danba or Zhanggu Town. Trek an hour or so in either direction and you'll come across towers as well as villagers who will allow y... more >>

The quiet mountain town of Rilong is the jump-off point for hiking expeditions to the snowy peaks of Siguniangshan (Four Girls Mountain) in northern Sichuan's predominantly Tibetan Aba Prefecture.  Once a remote mountain outpost, access from Chengdu has improved in recent years and the town has seen a good deal of development in anticipation of a regional tourism boom driven by the beauty of Sigunianshan and the surrounding valleys.  A handful of recently built hotels line the towns main drag, where you can also grab a bite to eat at a number of restaurants or check email at an Internet cafe. The region, popular with backpackers and serious hikers, is still relatively free of large-scale development, but expect that to change soon. Once an idyllic little town home to a mix of Tibetan and Qiang, local authorities and businessmen have pushed many of them asid... more >>

The rugged Shuangqiao Valley (双桥沟, Shuangqiao Guo) is accessible via the Balang Highway running from Siguniangshan (Four Sisters Mountain) and Rilong and is a favorite for climbers—especially ice climbers. The valley is protected, so you need a permit to get in, which can generally be arranged by regional travel agents and some hotels (you'll still likely have to appear in person with your passport and visa before the appropriate officials). The easiest way to go, however, is to book with a major tour provider beforehand—Ctrip, for example, books Siguniangshan tours online. Suangqiao Guo is the most accessible valley in the Siguniangshan area and features a well-marked path running the length of the valley along with occasional signs marking a notable rock formation, view, stand of trees or small stream. The views of the Four Sisters are wonderful from the valley ... more >>

Ruoergai is one of China's largest and most important wetland prairies, straddling the border between Sichuan and Gansu Provinces and feeding off of the Yellow River which flows from here down to the sea. The major attractions here require a lot of walking and the time to do so at a leisurely pace -- we are talking about a wild prairie here. There are horse treks and 4-wheel tours as well (see links below), most of which originate in Zoige Town. Zoige Town is the urban heart of the area, such as it is, and from this town you can trek north toward the border with Gansu and check out the flower-speckled wetland around Hua Hu Lake and the Longriba Prairie on your way to the Tibetan town of Langmusi. You can also head southwest from town and see the first bend of the Yellow River and the Suokezang Monastery built directly opposite the bend near the tiny town of Tangke. S... more >>

Taoping is one of those tiny out of the way villages that got famous quick in the last five years after some enterprising backpacker visited the place, took a picture of a beautiful minority girl and posted it on his blog. That might have stirred the imaginations of millions of Chinese, but once they arrived in out here, deep in the mountains of northern Sichuan in the Tibetan and Qiang minority dominated Aba Prefecture, other wonders took a hold of them. Ironically, the Qiang minority people of Taoping built their mountain fastness according to IChing philosophies — a philosophy that has been chased out of every urban area in the rest of the country — and that style of planning enabled the village to defend itself, feed itself, keep water running and keep the community intact for two millennia.  The interconnecting lanes of the village and the watchtowers... more >>

One of the Danba County's best-known villages, Jiaju Village is perched above Zhanggu Town, Danba's biggest town. Jiaju appeared on the backpacker and adventure tourist map after three Tibetan sisters opened their home to a traveler from Hong Kong, who then spread the word. Soon enough, the whole village began supplementing traditional farming and herdsing with income from tourism. Fortunately for seekers of authentic traditional culture, the village is remote enough and difficult enough to reach to have, to date, avoided the crass, highly commercial development typical of many recently "discovered" destinations. The road from Chengdu to Danba runs through Zhanggu; generally, if you say "Jiaju" to locals, they will direct you to the village. The three sisters still live near the top of the mountain, and they, along with many of their neighbors, welco... more >>