Tibetannet

Zanda countyis located in the extreme southwest of the Ngari prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region nestled in a corner far away from the typical places in Tibet many people ever managed to travel to.

Zanda actually is a Tibetan term meaning “a place which has lower reaches with grass”. With a population of less than 7,000 permanent inhabitants spread out so sparsely, there is only one person for each of its 4 square kilometers. It is officially China’s least populated county.

The Elephant-spouted River, one of the four biggest rivers in Tibetpasses through this region, and it is also the place of ruins of the GugeKingdom. When travelling in the region, there are a few places worth seeing and much of its lands surprisingly resemble badlands or rather rock deserts with colorfully yet naturally “painted” rocks.

If you travel by car or bus from the remote western city of to Zanda County for more than 5 hours you will arrive to the Guge town which is located next to the Zanda Earth Forest National Geological Park.

Once in the vicinity, there are several very interesting cultural sites to visit. The Guge silver eye is a well preserved hand-carved sculpture, and also one of the most well known relics in all of Tibet. It is located near the remnants of the fortress. If in the area and you want to see a place of worship then the Tholing Monastery should not be missed.

At one time, Tholing was the capital of the entire Guge region, and was the location of one of the oldest monasteries. Much of the original architecture is still somewhat or mostly intact. Another highlight worth pointing out is some old sutras left behind that were written in silver ink.     

Outside of Tholing other points of interest can be found. A few of the small neighboring villages include Dongga, Daba and Pingyang which can be reached by local transport. The Guge Kingdom disappeared about 300 years ago yet various cultural relics of high value that were left behind at the time of their demise have been relocated into many of the households of local villagers in these different towns. You might be surprised what they will show you if you ask.

 Other than cultural attractions, the Clay Forests is a natural wonder worth seeing that can be also reached by car from Lion-spouted River town (more than 12 hours drive). These unique clay deposits that gradually formed on both sides of the Lion-spouted River are the result of thousands of years of unusual upwelling of an ancient lakes surface.

There are passenger flights to Ngari Gunsa Airport in Lion-spouted River town of Ngari prefecture from Kashgar in Xinjiang, Lhasa as well as Urumqi. These routes are the combined air service offerings of China Eastern Airline as well as Tibet Airlines and Luckyair(although they fly independently).