Ganzi
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Ganzi

Ganzi

Tibetan plateau town in western Sichuan, a rough transport hub for routes through Kham.

Ganzi (also spelled Garzê) is a rough Tibetan town at 3,400 metres on the high plateau of western Sichuan, and it functions primarily as a staging post for exploring the surrounding region. The bus connections radiate out in all directions — south to Litang, north to Dege, east back to Kangding — and Ganzi sits at the hub of a network of routes through the Kham region, historically one of Tibet's three traditional provinces. It is the kind of place where travellers tend to arrive planning one night and stay three.

The Ganzi Monastery is the town's centrepiece, a large working monastery with murals and a gilded roofline visible from across the valley. Entry is free and the monastery is active — you are as likely to encounter monks conducting a ceremony as you are tourists taking photographs. More extraordinary, and considerably harder to reach, is Yarchen Gar Monastery about 80 kilometres south of Ganzi, one of the largest Buddhist academies in the world. Thousands of monks and nuns live in a sprawling settlement of small wooden dwellings on the plateau, and the scale of it — a temporary-looking city devoted entirely to religious practice — is unlike anything else in China.

The surrounding grasslands around Tagong and Maren, accessible from routes through the region, are high-altitude pastoral country where Tibetan nomadic herders still move with their yak herds through the summer months. Horse riding is available and the landscape on clear days, with snowpeaks cutting the horizon, is genuinely spectacular. The physical demands of travel here should not be underestimated — the elevation affects everyone differently, and buses on mountain roads at this altitude take far longer than distances suggest.

Ganzi has basic accommodation and restaurants. The local food runs to yak meat hot pot and butter tea, both of which require some acclimatisation of taste as well as altitude. The town has limited internet access and ATMs may not accept foreign cards — the practical rhythms of western Sichuan apply here as they do throughout the plateau.

Guide

Eating Out

Ganzi's restaurants are simple and unpretentious, concentrated along the main commercial street. The local food runs to yak meat in various forms — hot pot, stir-fried, dried — along with tsampa (roasted barley flour, eaten as porridge or mixed with butter tea), momos (dumplings), and thukpa (noodle soup). Tibetan butter tea is the standard drink and an acquired taste; the salted, fatty quality that makes it seem odd to the uninitiated makes more sense after a few hours at altitude.

The main street has several small restaurants run by Han Chinese migrants alongside Tibetan establishments. The Han restaurants serve standard Sichuan dishes — mapo tofu, stir-fried vegetables, rice — that are somewhat easier on palates unused to the Tibetan staples. Either way, prices are low and the portions are generous. Don't expect a menu in anything but Chinese.

Guide

Getting There

Ganzi sits at the hub of a rough road network across the Kham plateau, and all routes in involve significant travel time.

The most common approach is by bus from Kangding, a journey of seven to eight hours that climbs over passes above 4,000 metres. Buses run daily. The alternative approach from the north — via Manigango and the road from Yushu in Qinghai — is longer but passes through spectacular plateau scenery and adds variety if you are making a circuit.

From Ganzi, onward buses continue north to Dege (about five to six hours) and south to Litang and on toward Daocheng and Yading. All these routes involve mountain passes that can close in winter or after heavy rain.

There is no airport in Ganzi. The nearest is at Kangding, which has limited connections to Chengdu. The town's bus station is the practical centre of all transport.

ATMs in Ganzi may not accept foreign cards. Bring adequate cash from Kangding before heading into this part of the plateau.

Guide

Things to Do

Ganzi rewards travellers who treat it as more than a one-night transit stop. The monastery in town is excellent, but the extraordinary sites — Yarchen Gar and the grasslands — lie outside it. Plan at least two days.