Let's Go to Yushu!

Yushu means “ruins” in Tibetan. We will not discuss why it was once given such a heavy name, because after the earthquake, it was reborn.

“Let’s go to Yushu this year.” After repeatedly comparing the time available with the distances involved, I had to accept that it would be impossible to cover all of southern Qinghai in a single trip. A year earlier, I had naively believed that one National Day holiday would be enough to travel around Qinghai. In the end, even ten days were only enough to cover Haixi Prefecture, and I still could not reach every place I wanted to visit. This year, I again assumed that twelve days would be enough for Golog and Yushu, but the numbers said otherwise. In the end, I reduced the route to Maqên and Darlag counties in Golog Prefecture and devoted most of the trip to Yushu Prefecture.

Why Yushu? Because the stories of King Gesar are told here, because Princess Wencheng passed through here on her journey to Tibet, because the city was reborn after the earthquake, and because this is Sanjiangyuan, the source region of three great rivers and the water tower of China. But what finally made up my mind was something a childhood friend casually said: “Yushu really is worth visiting.”

After taking recommendations from various friends, I made a list of the main places I wanted to visit, with thanks to everyone who offered advice and suggestions:

  • Jiangjiaduode
  • Duolunduo Village, Niangla Township
  • Gading Monastery
  • Gar Monastery
  • Gado Jowo
  • Yueguzongliequ, source of the Yellow River
  • Angsai Grand Canyon
  • Amne Machin
  • Donggei Cuona
  • Gyaring Lake and Ngoring Lake
  • Hoh Xil (Tanggula Mountain Town–Budongquan)

With the main points of interest decided, the next step was planning the driving route. The fastest way from Xining to Yushu is by expressway, with the 800-kilometer journey taking around twelve hours. That seemed a little monotonous to me, so I decided instead to make a detour through Maqên and Darlag, enter Garzê in Sichuan, and try the newly built road between Darlag and Sêrxü. After that, the rest of the journey would remain within Yushu Prefecture. Yushu has five counties, often described locally as “three duo, one nang and one qu”. After repeated calculations and comparisons, the route was roughly settled as follows:

  1. Xining—Guide County—south shore of Longyang Gorge—Guinan County—Maqên County
  2. Maqên County—Darlag County—Sêrxü County, Garzê, Sichuan—Yushu City—Jiangjiaduode—Yushu City
  3. Yushu City—Xiaosumang Township—Gading Monastery—Duolunduo Village—Niangla Township—Nangqên County
  4. Nangqên County—Gar Monastery—Nangqên County
  5. Nangqên County—Zadoi County
  6. Zadoi County—Angsai Grand Canyon—Shanglaxiu Township—Yushu City
  7. Yushu City—Chindu County—south of Gado Jowo—Zhaduo Town—north of Gado Jowo—Qumarlêb County
  8. Qumarlêb County—Zhidoi County—Tanggula Mountain Town
  9. Tanggula Mountain Town—Budongquan Town—Qumarlêb County
  10. Qumarlêb County—Qiuzhi Township—Yueguzongliequ, source of the Yellow River—Maduo Township—Gyaring Lake & Ngoring Lake—Madoi County—Huashixia Town
  11. Huashixia Town—Xiadawu Town—Amne Machin Glacier—Xueshan Township—Huashixia Town—Donggei Cuona—Huashixia Town—Xining

This plan was based on distances shown on maps, road conditions visible in satellite imagery, and experience from the previous year’s trip through Haixi. But what happened later proved that the plan was still far too optimistic. During the actual journey, the route was repeatedly shortened and revised, and in the end we completed only about half of what had been planned.

According to the map, the journey would cover the following route:

Compared with Haixi, the average elevation along this route was higher and the terrain more mountainous. The weather forecast also kept predicting several days of rain in southern Yushu, adding even more uncertainty to the journey. But there is only one long holiday each year, and I had already spent so much time planning it. How could I not at least try my luck? After buying supplies, servicing the car, downloading offline maps, and completing the other preparations, all that remained was to wait for departure day.

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