Western Sichuan · On-road · Rental or own bike
Fourteen days through the monastery heartland of Kham and Amdo - five schools of Tibetan Buddhism and a Bön seat, the great printing house at Dege, twenty thousand nuns at Yarchen Gar, and pandas on the way home.
The ride
This is the ride for people who want the culture as much as the road. Western Sichuan - Kham and the southern edge of Amdo - holds a density of living Tibetan Buddhism you will not find anywhere else, and this loop threads through it for twelve riding days without ever entering the Tibet Autonomous Region, so no Tibet permit is required.
Five schools appear along the way - Gelug, Nyingma, Jonang, Kagyu and Sakya - plus the Bön seat at Nangshig, one of the largest in China. You reach the Dege Printing House, still producing woodblock scripture and often called the encyclopaedia of Tibetan culture, and Yarchen Gar, where around twenty thousand nuns live and meditate on a river island at 4,000 m.
The last three days turn for home through Tagong beneath Zhara Lhatse, the thousand-year block towers at Suopo and the Gyarong village of Jiaju, then over Balang Shan to the panda base at Wolong. Private tour with a Tibetan guide and a support 4×4.
Five passes crest above 4,000 m. We never gain the whole height in a day - the route is built so your body acclimatises as you climb.
The route, day by day
The fine print, in plain words
See it to believe it
Photography by Liu Bin · Greatway field archive
Dates & enquiry
Private departures on your dates, roughly April to October. Tell us when you're free and how many are riding - a booking consultant will get back to you within 24 hours.
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