甘孜藏族自治州

Why this place

Garze is the Tibetan prefecture of western Sichuan, and the old road to Lhasa ran through it — Kangding is the town where the Chinese and Tibetan worlds traditionally met, and the grassland at Tagong is some of the loveliest high country in China.

What to see

• Kangding and the Paoma Mountain, where the 'Kangding Love Song' comes from
• Tagong grassland and its monastery, with views to Mount Yala
• The Litang horse festival in early August — the biggest gathering on the eastern plateau
• Dege, with its printing house — a Tibetan sutra printing house still working, founded in the 18th century
• Daocheng Yading, the 'last Shangri-La' landscape of sacred peaks and lakes

What to eat

• Tibetan food: yak meat, butter tea, tsampa, and the local yogurt
• Highland barley bread and the Sichuan-influenced cooking of the towns

How to plan

Allow a week for Garze done properly — the distances are long and the altitude needs a day or two to adjust to.

Best time

May–June and September–October; the Litang festival is in August

Practical tips

• Altitude is real here: 3,000–4,000m in most towns; go slowly the first day and do not sleep above 4,000m