Featured Destination: Tianzhu (天祝)

It is likely than you have never even heard of Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County (天祝藏族自治县), located to the northwest of Lanzhou.

Although Tianzhu is home to quite a few Tibetans, most of these have lost much of their cultural identity and traditional language and dress. In other words, they are Tibetan by virtue of their heritage. This is about the only downside to visiting their region!

Although relatively close to Lanzhou, and not in a direction that one typically thinks of being a Tibetan area, Tianzhu and its surrounding landscapes are suprisingly very much like what you see in the Xiahe region.

There are many big mountains, with the highest peaks reaching 4,000 msnm, that make up the very southern part of the Qilian Mountain range that straddles the Gansu-Qinghai border for more than 1,000 km.

Tianzhu is also home to a very large number of white yaks. It is known as the home of the Tibetan White Yak. These are not hard to spot as you travel the roads that cross the county.

When I visited Tianzhu, during the last half of May, I was amazed by the coolness of the air, the beauty of the mountain rivers and lakes, and the ruggedness of the mountains.

I was never able to visit the town called Heaven ("Tiantang" in Chinese) located at the opposite end of the county, but I hear it is beautiful, nestled along the banks of the Datong River. Tiantang is home to a fairly large monastery with visiting monks from places as far away as Labrang and elsewhere.

You can get to Tianzhu by taking a bus from Lanzhou (2-3 hours, 20-30 RMB). Try the Main Station, located near the Train Station, or possibly the West Bus Station.

Once you arrive, you will need to hire a private taxi to take you into the more rural regions of the county and to the town of Heaven.