The first time I got to know Gannan was when I watched a variety show called "Far Home" when I was in junior high school. I got to know Zhagana for the first time during the program. At that time, I even looked up the dictionary to find out how to pronounce the word "啕". This was my first impression of Gannan. From then on, Gannan was known as the place. I planted a seed, waiting to go over and take a look at it sometime in the future.
2020 is a magical year. When I got off the train from Northeast China and returned to Hainan, the epidemic broke out and the whole country fell into a war against the epidemic. When I was about to graduate in my senior year, I stayed at home and did my graduation project. I didn’t even go there. My original plan to go to Zhangjiajie with a few friends during the Qingming Festival also fell through. What was even more uncomfortable was that my graduation thesis was difficult to deliver, and I was quarantined when I returned to school, so I had to postpone it. Defense time!
Fortunately, the epidemic situation improved in May, and I also completed my graduation defense, officially ending my student days and entering the society. At this time, I wanted to say goodbye to my four-year undergraduate studies with a trip, so I started planning. Choosing the right place is very important. First, consider safety. Do not choose border areas or places with high epidemic incidence, such as Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia. Second, consider economy. Finally decided on this place - Gannan Sichuan North!
trip planning
D1: Lanzhou—Xiahe—Labrang Monastery;
D2: Labrang Monastery-Sangke Grassland-Zhagana;
D3: Diebu—Ruoergai Grassland—Huahu—Nine Bends of the Yellow River;
D4: Tangke-Vachtalin-Moon Bay-Aba Prefecture;
D5: Aba Prefecture—Lianbao Yeze;
D6: Aba Prefecture—Langmusi;
D7: Langmusi - Milarepa Pavilion - Lanzhou;
Lanzhou—Xiahe—Labrang Monastery
The car drove out of Lanzhou and headed south, leaving the world of reinforced concrete. What came into view were rolling mountains, paired with lush green, and occasionally some brilliant golden yellow, or immature highland barley. Maybe this is different from what you imagined in Gansu. The power of nature can make small people stunned and open their hearts to the door of Shambhala. And this is just the beginning!
Labrang Monastery | Xiahe County
Labrang Monastery located in Xiahe County is one of the most legendary temples in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Its full name in Tibetan is "Gaden Xia Zhu Darji Tashi Yisu Qiju Lang". It is called Tashiqi Temple for short and is generally called Labrang Temple. Labrang Monastery is the altered pronunciation of "Lazhang" in Tibetan, which means the residence of the living Buddha master.
Labrang Monastery is one of the six major monasteries of the Gelug Sect (Yellow Sect) of Tibetan Buddhism. The other five major monasteries are Kumbum Monastery in Xining, Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Drepung Monastery, Ganden Monastery, and Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse. .
The exquisite Tibetan temple architecture, with red walls and white tiles, gilt copper tiles, and colorful prayer flags, has the power to penetrate time and space. In addition to shocking, it is still shocking! Looking up at him is like looking up at the height of faith, firmness and sincerity, solemnity and depth, rushing towards you!
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This is the political and religious center of Gannan, retaining the best Tibetan Buddhist teaching system in the country, and has always been known as the "World Tibetan Academy".
The Butter Flower Museum is also a major feature of Labrang Monastery. I have also seen it in Kumbum Monastery, but it is not allowed to take pictures, but you can take pictures here. Butter flowers, as the name suggests, are made of butter. The butter needs to be immersed in ice water and repeatedly washed, kneaded, removed impurities, and toughened. The whole process takes three months to complete in the cold season. It can be seen that the exquisite butter flowers are It takes a lot of effort to complete!
There are hundreds of flowers and grasses with red and green leaves, a variety of rare birds and animals, magnificent landscape paintings, small and exquisite pavilions, and lifelike portraits of Master Tsongkhapa, with sharp edges and corners, well-proportioned and lifelike images. It feels like being in a mythical art palace.
Since it was only opened after the epidemic, many places in the scenic area are not open to visit, so you have to visit outside.
The most impressive thing about the entire Labrang Temple is the prayer corridor at the outermost edge of the entire temple. This is the longest prayer corridor in the world, with a circumference of about 3.5 kilometers and consists of more than 2,000 large and small statues. It consists of prayer wheels. The circumference of a small prayer wheel is only about one meter, while a large prayer wheel requires three or four people to cover it.
If you turn these prayer wheels in sequence, it will take more than an hour. It may be difficult for impatient tourists to walk through the entire prayer wheel corridor, but devout Tibetans and lamas walk around and around!
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Climbing up the nearby hillside, you can have a panoramic view of the entire Labrang Temple. Its scale is like a pearl held in the palm of the Buddha's hand! There are 18 splendid Buddhist temples, more than 10,000 Buddhist houses, lofty buildings and vast buildings, row after row, which is extraordinary!
Xiahe County is just a small town. Although it is not as famous as Labrang Monastery, it has only one wide main street and a few small streets. Traditional Tibetan-style buildings can be seen everywhere in the county, with red, white, black and yellow as the main colors, and square shapes. And rhombus is the main composition!
This is the most beautiful picture I took during the entire trip. It seems to have a story. The name of the photo is: Enlightenment.
The model of the team, Miss ZM
Like a large wall, the sacred and ordinary, the spiritual palace and the world are separated by this wall.
Countless believers pray here every day. They twist rosary beads or spin small prayer wheels with their left hands, and push the nearly 1.5-meter-high prayer barrel with their right hands. They recite the six-character mantra or read it silently, leaning forward slightly. , devoted to the Buddha tirelessly.
You can even see the long-prostrated believers with some dry food to satisfy their hunger beside them. They are facing the place of God, clasping their hands together, raising them above their heads, then moving them back to the front and chest. They move their hands away from their chests and make them parallel to the ground. Lie down on the ground with your knees first, your whole body on the ground, and tap your forehead lightly on the ground. Stand up again and start over again, reciting the six-character mantra continuously, tirelessly, hungry and trapped. Faith is a source tree planted in their hearts. This tree is watered with piety and watered with piety. Cultivated by kindness, what fills their faces is not sweat, but the aura glowing from faith.
Today’s dinner is Tibetan food!
Mutton buns + chive buns
Pictures two and four are yogurt, and the last one is tsampa made of ghee.
Labrang Monastery—Sangke Grassland—Zhagana
Sangke Grassland | Xiahe County
Heading south, today's destination is Zhagana, located at the junction of Gansu and Sichuan. Gradually, the scenery outside the car window changed and turned into a field of golden rapeseed flowers.
white strap
The green mountains are faint and the water is far away, and the grass in the south of the Yangtze River has not withered after autumn.
As for the theme, it can be faith, mountains and rivers, state of mind... or it can be simple.
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The world under the crystal ball
The flowers on the grass are like angels and stars, whispering, telling you the secret of Gannan!
Pure reflection reflects another world!
What the mind sees is what the eyes see, maybe this is a corner deep in Shambhala!
Continuing forward, there is a grassland, with groups of yaks dotting the green pastures!
Find a place to park on the roadside, look at this piece of grassland, and quietly watch the Tibetan old woman milking the yak milk skillfully!
A casual shot is a blockbuster film. Can Haval make money?
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The grasslands on the plateau are the hometown of yaks. From June to July every year, the summer grass begins to turn green. Herdsmen drive their yaks to the summer pastures until winter comes.
After thousands of years of nomadic life, people here have long understood how nomads get along with plateau grasslands.
The majestic momentum of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, the majestic bodies of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Loess Plateau, and the vicissitudes of nomadic civilization and agricultural and pastoral culture are depicted in thick lines, depicting the historical context of the development and evolution of human society, and generously rendering the evolution of all things in nature. Ecological context of succession.
A group of people, far away, having a carnival!
Heading to Diebu County, traveling at the junction of Gansu and Sichuan, rape flowers turned into highland barley, cars shuttled through the valleys, and what I thought of was the territory of Maggie Toast in "The Dust Has Settled"!
High mountains, dense forests, deep valleys, and grasslands are praised as Shambhala in Tibetan, which means the paradise world, the fairyland on earth, and the mythical world in Buddhism.
Zhagana | Diebu County
The village surrounded by huge mountain peaks is called "Zhagana" in Tibetan. "Zhagana" means white stone in Tibetan. "Na" means box. Zhagana means "white stone box". One hundred American explorer Joseph Locke came here many years ago, and he left the impression of the Garden of Eden here.
It was drizzling in the sky, and while walking in the valley, we were accompanied by lush mountain forests and the sound of huge water flow. The mountain forest looks more and more green under the mist, like a fairyland on earth!
"Diebu" in Tibetan means the place where God's thumb presses open. The God here refers to God Negandava. Legend has it that in distant ancient times, a fairy from Negandava passed by this place and was blocked by dense rocks high into the sky. He stretched out his thumb and pressed lightly, and the rocks cracked, revealing a long passage. "Diebu" got its name from this. This myth and legend vividly displays the geology and landforms in the Diebu area.
The adventure route that Locke once walked was from Zhuoni County to Zhagana. This hiking route on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has rugged mountain roads, high altitudes, large drops, and unstable climate. It is the most difficult hiking route in China. One of the lines. The journey may take 2 days. This time we only walked a short distance. We hope to experience this self-abuse road next time!
A group photo of friends. Ahead is the village of Zhagana. I looked at it for a long time, but it was actually very far away. There is a huge contrast between the vision on the plateau and the road conditions. This is the so-called death of a horse in Wangshan Mountain!
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After walking here, the rain gradually stopped, the mountain scenery slowly emerged, the clouds and mist receded, this is Zhagana, the quiet and peaceful Zhagana! It is a huge palace surrounded by mountain peaks. I personally think it is very suitable to stay here for one night, but unfortunately there are no arrangements for this trip, so I have to wait until next time to make up for this regret!
The water vapor from the rainfall turned into clouds and mist. Zhagna, surrounded by clouds and mist, is holy and mysterious, attracting us to walk into her and understand her.
Maybe he has his own time, becomes slower than outside, and walks slower! No matter how the outside world changes, he always follows his own footsteps, moving forward without any rush or slowness!
Why is Zhagana a place that so many people yearn for? I think everyone may have their own fantasy about life in Taoyuan, whether it is a mountain cabin, a pasture, a river, or a fertile farmland at the doorstep of their home. And all these most primitive and simple pursuits of survival seem to be gathered in Zhagana!
If we set foot on Zhagana again, she will definitely give us a different surprise!
Diebu—Ruoergai Grassland—Hua Lake—Nine Bends of the Yellow River;
After leaving Diebu, continue to the next stop, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, and further south you can reach Jiuzhaigou Valley and Chengdu. But we are just playing a formal game in Aba Prefecture.
Entering Norgai in Aba Prefecture, Sichuan, there are endless prairie on both sides.
Although I have never visited this land, I have inexplicable feelings about it. Maybe it is related to a writer. He is the author of "The Dust Has Settled" - Alai, a native of Aba Prefecture, Sichuan.
Flower Lake | Ruoergai County
This is the place where the Red Army marched through the grassland during the Long March. Wetlands of various sizes constitute a swamp and provide generous tributaries to the Yellow River.
"I sit on the top of the mountain and feel the distant wind rising from the current of life /
The earth glides ferociously in a blue sky, and echoes arise all around /
I feel that the taste of saltpeter in my mouth comes from the past days. The past days are bent over in the thick shadow of the mountains /
Write down words like this: dreams, barley and wheat, salt songs, copper and iron, as well as bridges in four seasons and leaves in the wind...
Sitting on the top of the mountain, I buried my head between my knees, and the wind drove the water of time over my back /
Ah, the river roars and the road turns /
And I can’t find a clear line between happiness and misfortune.”
——Alai
Although the weather is not very good, cloudy days do not actually hinder the beautiful scenery, but if it is a sunny day, it may be more beautiful to see the reflection of the blue sky and white clouds!
Keep going, keep blooming!
The girl’s outfit matches the scene perfectly, it looks great!
Say goodbye to Huahu Lake and head to the first bend of the Jiuqu Yellow River in Tangke, ending today's trip by chasing a sunset.
All the way is the Windows interface
It's strange to say that I didn't see such a blue sky in Huahu, but here the clouds opened and the moon shone brightly.
The First Bend of the Jiuqu Yellow River | Tangke County
The twists and turns of the Yellow River and the White River divide the Ruoergai Grassland into countless river islands and small islands, meandering northward. The grass is connected to the water, and the water is connected to the sky. The two rivers are elegant and unique, like a couple, walking hand in hand towards the northwest horizon. , which makes people open-minded.
Looking from a distance, the vast wilderness and the vast and deep blue sky naturally merge into a harmonious whole. Perhaps this also illustrates the Buddhist idea of "unity of man and nature", which is amazing!
Wolfsbane flowers on the grassland, this plant can be used to make paper and play a role in preventing insects.
The prairie dog that Sister Yanzi saw was very cute and not afraid of people! Picture source: Sister Yanzi, not keeping a picture of the prairie dog in the camera became my regret during this trip.
The last wave is delayed!
In fact, if you look in the right direction, you can see 18 sunsets. The sun is gradually setting and the day's trip is coming to an end!
Originally, I wanted to go and take pictures of the stars at night, but my roommate, Donkey, got sick and had a high fever while watching the sunset while climbing up the observation deck. He couldn't eat, so I had to take care of him and have a good rest, so the plan of taking pictures of the stars was also scrapped.
As I write this, the first half of this trip is over. I know what will happen next. Please listen to the next chapter for the breakdown!