Beijing Visitor Guide

Western Sichuan

The western part of Sichuan Province is known for its beautiful mountain scenery.

The foothills of the Himalayas rise here with peaks reaching up to 5,000 meters (16,400 ft) and above.



The Hailou Gou (Conch Valley) glacier is at 3,720 meters and the area around Moxi Xiang, from where visitors can access the glacier, is inhabited by a large Qiang minority population. Sichuan's highest mountain is the 7,556 meter-tall Gongga Shan.



The area around Kangding is inhabibited by Khampa peoples, who are ethnically Tibetan and follow Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan prayer flags flutter in the wind in the picture above. Tibetan stupa dot the landscape.

© Images of China Daniel Allen

Kangding has been an important trading center with Tibet since ancient times, with tea going west to Tibet in exchange for copper goods and wool.

© Beijing-Visitor.com