Yading Nature Reserve

Yading is a high-mountain reserve in Daocheng County, in the Tibetan uplands of western Sichuan, built around three snow peaks that Tibetans have venerated for centuries as the abode of three bodhisattvas. The northern peak, Chenresig (Xiannairi), about 6,032 metres, is identified with Avalokiteshvara, compassion; Jampelyang (Yangmaiyong) to the south with Manjushri, wisdom; and Chanadorje (Xiaruoduoji) to the east with Vajrapani, power. Local tradition says the mountains were consecrated by Padmasambhava in the eighth century, and pilgrims walk the circuit around them as an act of devotion.

The reserve spans roughly 2,900 to 6,032 metres in altitude, and the scenery changes with every climb: forests of conifers and larches in the valleys, the old Chonggu Monastery near the trailheads, then open alpine meadows. The Luorong pasture, at about 4,180 metres, is the classic place to see all three mountains at once, with a stream wandering through the grass below the pyramid of Jampelyang. Higher still are the glacier lakes: Pearl Lake near Chonggu, Milk Lake at around 4,400 metres in a cirque below Chenresig, its water a startling milky turquoise, and above it the Five-Colour Lake, whose surface shifts from green to bright blue to deep ink depending on the light.

The outside world learned of these peaks through the botanist-explorer Joseph Rock, who reached them in 1928 and described them in National Geographic in 1931 as Konka Risumgongba, the holy mountain of the outlaws. His accounts are often cited as one source for the idea of a hidden Himalayan paradise, and Yading is frequently promoted as "the last Shangri-La". What remains true without the legend is the purity of the landscape: sharp, glaciated summits, clear high-altitude light, autumn forests turning gold and red against snow.

Walking here is serious exercise because of the altitude — even the lower trails start near 3,900 metres — and the walk to Milk Lake and Five-Colour Lake is a full day. Trails and eco-buses link the main points inside the reserve.

Getting there

The reserve is entered from Shangri-La town (Riwa) south of Daocheng; Daocheng town lies about 64 km away in a straight line. The nearest airport is Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY), about 97 km away and, at 4,411 metres, the highest civilian airport in the world; from there roads lead south through Daocheng to the reserve entrance.