Yading

PeaksSichuan,China

Three snow peaks in western China standing in a triangle Tibetan Buddhism reads as one mandala, circled by pilgrims past glacier lakes at 4,600 metres.

September·Edge of season

Sep

September eases out of the summer rains: showers still blow through and cloud can swallow the peaks by afternoon, but the valley turns from green to yellow, every route is open, and the crowds have not yet arrived.

Year-round The three sacred peaks, Chonggu Monastery and the glacier lakes stand here every day of the year; the season decides the valley's colour, whether cloud hides the summits, and which high lakes you can reach.

Yading is a reserve on the edge of the Tibetan plateau in western Sichuan, in China, where three snow peaks stand in a triangle that Tibetan Buddhism reads as a single figure. Each is a bodhisattva: Chenrezig for compassion, the tallest at 6,032 metres; Jambeyang for wisdom, the sharp pyramid; Chanadorje for power. Pilgrims have walked a kora clockwise around all three for centuries, keeping the mountains on their right. It begins at Chonggu Monastery, at about 3,900 metres, and the visitor trail shares its first stretch. You arrive higher than the monastery you have come to see. The airport that serves the valley sits at 4,411 metres, so the flight from Chengdu climbs from around 500 metres in an hour and gives the body no time to adjust. Nothing here is walked fast. An easy path from the monastery takes you to Pearl Lake, a small dark tarn directly beneath Chenrezig, and on a windless morning the whole peak lies inverted on it. The main trail carries on up the valley to Luorong Pasture, a meadow of yaks and streams, and then turns steep and stays steep. Boardwalk and stone steps take you about 400 metres up in thin air to Milk Lake at 4,600 metres, ringed by the pale stone it is named for, with Jambeyang standing over it. Five-Colour Lake lies another hundred metres higher, and that is where the trail stops. The larches grow between 3,800 and 4,100 metres, which is the exact band the valley trail runs through, so when they turn deep gold in the last week of October the whole walk passes through colour under white summits. Joseph Rock got in here in 1928, when the range was held by brigands said to shoot outsiders on sight, and what bought him passage was not money but a stack of magazines carrying his own photographs of the local king. The hour to be at Luorong is before sunrise, while the meadow is still grey and the frost has not lifted. The light reaches Jambeyang's pyramid first and holds it copper-pink for a few minutes before it comes down to the grass.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Foreigners cannot book the daily quota online — the system is Chinese-only, but the ticket office holds back passes for passport holders, so buy on arrival.
Give yourself a night before you walk — you arrive at 4,411 metres and the lake trail tops 4,700, so sleep low in Daocheng first and climb slowly.
The peaks are clearest at first light — cloud usually builds over the valley through the day, and in the July and August rains the summits can stay hidden.
The pass covers two days, so use two mornings — the earliest arrivals reach Chonggu ahead of the crowd, and a second attempt costs nothing extra.

Things to do

1
Wait for first light on Jambeyang
Be at Luorong Pasture before sunrise, when the meadow is still grey and the frost has not lifted. The sun reaches Jambeyang's pyramid first and holds it copper-pink for a few minutes before the light spills down to the grass. It is also the hour when the peaks are most likely to be clear of cloud.
2
Climb to Milk Lake at 4,600 metres
From Luorong Pasture the trail turns steep and stays steep, gaining some 400 metres to a turquoise lake ringed by pale, milk-white stone, with Jambeyang standing directly above it. Five-Colour Lake lies another hundred metres higher. Allow five to six hours for the round trip and take it slowly — this is the highest ground in the reserve that most people reach.
3
Find Chenrezig upside down in Pearl Lake
The short, easy path from Chonggu Monastery ends at Pearl Lake, a small dark tarn directly beneath Chenrezig. On a windless morning the whole 6,032-metre peak lies inverted on the surface. It is the one big view here that asks almost nothing of your lungs.
4
Walk a stretch of the pilgrims' kora
The circuit that Tibetan pilgrims walk clockwise around the three peaks begins at Chonggu Monastery, and the visitor trail shares its first stretch. You pass mani stones and strings of prayer flags left at the passes, faded and re-hung season after season. Walk it in the pilgrims' direction, keeping the mountain on your right.
5
Stand under the larches when they turn
The gold is not up on the peaks — it runs along the valley floor you walk all day, so the whole trail passes through it. Larch needles turn a deep orange-gold before they drop, and because the trees stand right below the snow line, a single glance takes in gold, dark green fir, white summits and hard blue sky.