Tagong Town and the Lhagang Grasslands present a great opportunity for travelers who do not have the time to go deep into Ganzi, but still want to leave the border town of Kangding and see some "real" Tibetans.

As late as 2008, Tagong was still a one street town with just as many hoirses and motorcycles. Today the town has grown to about 1 1/2 streets with just many more vehicles, restaurants and small hostels. 

The Tagong Monastery is one of the most famous in Ganzi, due to the Sakyamuni Buddha figure that has been housed here since the late 7th century. According to legend, the Tang Princess Wengcheng left the figure here after it fell out of the baggage train and whispered that it would like to stay in Tagong. 

The figure was a gift to the King of Tibet, Songsten Gampo, and presumably a part of the Princess's dowry. The look on the king's face must have been priceless when his princess arrived and told him that his Buddha was now in the possession of Khampa monks on the far reaches of his kingdom.

The monastery is still very active with festivals during all four seasons and a strong community of monks that number anywhere form 50 to 200 depending on the circumstances. 

The surrounding town has grown to accomodate tourists who come to visit the temple and hike across the grasslands to Yala Mountain (the massive rock thrusting out of the flat lands in the horizon). There are hotsprings near the foot of the mountain and you will most likely need a guide to find them. It takes a full day to ride out to the mountains. You can trek across the grasslands on horseback and stay with nomads if you like. The tours are operated by local nomad families who have settled down somewhat.

Along the way to Mount Yala is a small temple and a collection of prayer larger than a building. The last rinpoche of the area spent his entire life carving the stones and estimates range from 100,000 to several million stones. The project has been taken up by the current rinpoche, who lives in a small cave above the temple. 

The river around Tagong is a great place to walk and you can climb the hill behind the town to visit the local orphanage, the monk college and get a tremendous view of Mt. Yala.

It is not hard to get a place to stay here, if you ask around you can stay with a local or you can grab a bed at one of the more established guesthouses across from the monastery.

During the wetter months, July to September, grasses are lush and green and create a striking contrast with the purplish-gray thunder clouds overhead and snow-capped mountains in the distance. Optimal visiting time is the wet season, grasses tend to become brown and somewhat less attractive during winter.

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