• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Stepping Out Of Babylon

Travel & Photography

  • About me
    • Contact
  • Destinations
    • Africa and Middle East
      • Iran
      • Morocco
      • Turkey
    • East Asia
      • China
      • Japan
    • South Asia
      • Bangladesh
      • India
      • Nepal
      • Sri Lanka
    • Southeast Asia
      • Cambodia
      • Indonesia
      • Lao
      • Malaysia
      • Myanmar
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
  • Itineraries & Maps
  • Travel tips
    • Visa
    • Hiking and Natural parks
    • Traveling as a vegetarian
    • Border crossing
  • Shop & Photography

from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng…by bus

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

[clear]

308 kilometers and 11 hours of bus separate these two villages near the border with the so-called Autonomous Region of Tibet: Shangri-la, in the Yunnan Province, and Dao Cheng in Sichuan Province.

[clear]

Although since the mid-eighteenth century Tibet was under the administration of the Emperor of China, it was only in 1950, when occupied by the People’s Liberation Army, that it became part of China, with the majority of its territory on Autonomous Region of Tibet. The remaining area was then divided by the nearby provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.

[clear]

Given the difficulty of traveling in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which requires specific authorization and obliges to travel in groups, which inevitably push foreigners to travel agencies, that increase significantly the cost of the trip, it gets too expensive to visit Tibet for a backpacker budget. The best option for those who want to know what remains of Tibetan culture and to enjoy the remarkable landscapes of the Tibetan plateau is to visit the villages located nearby the Autonomous Region of Tibet border, where the easiest access is made by the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan.

[clear]

Alternatively, the region of Ladakh, in the far north of India, is also another way to get close to Tibet. In Kathmandu, Nepal, and in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, it is possible to have contact with this culture due to the presence of a large number of Tibetan refugees, including the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala district, precisely at McLeod Ganj village.

[clear]

The bus ride, in spite of the poor road conditions, where part of the beaten path, crossing the mountain chain of Meili Xue Shan, also called Mainri Snow Mountains, climbing high passages and descending to the valleys to cross rivers, with the road winding up the steep slopes, offers breathtaking landscapes.

[clear]

On the way out of Shangri-la, the landscape is dominated by the green of the pines covering almost every slope of the mountains, except for the highest peaks where the rigor of winter still leaves traces of snow covering these landscapes. In the valleys run streams and rivers whose low level of water reveals a rug formed by stones, rounded by the passages of the icy waters.

[clear]

Leaving behind small settlements surrounded by modest agricultural fields, arranged along the fertile banks of water lines, where yaks and wild horses graze, we start to go up the steep slopes. Increasingly the landscape gets more desert, with the human presence disappearing almost completely. The abrupt gray cliffs seem to touch the white of the clouds that decorate the blue sky.

[clear]

The settlements lying along the road, which are no more than a few houses scattered along the road, feature a characteristic Tibetan architecture, with buildings consisting of three thick stone walls forming a rectangle, within which are built With aid of robust wooden trunks the habitation, almost always of two floors; Whose main facade is entirely wood; The doors and windows are framed by elaborate and colorful designs painted in wood carved in intricate geometric shapes that stand out in the white of the walls.

[clear]

As you enter Sichuan Province, the houses acquire other characteristics, the outer walls being entirely built of stone, with the door and window decorations giving way to a black trapeze frame, making these dwellings more solid and Dark, feeling enhanced by the gray stone walls that at cost stand out from the dry, dusty landscape.

[clear]

Crossing the highest points, and moving North, the landscape grows more and more arid, with the forest giving way to sandy and rocky slopes of gray and brownish colors, giving the landscape a wild and inhospitable tone… the typical Tibetan plateau landscape!

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

paragem para almoço... de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
lunch break

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

bus ... de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
bus … from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

...de Shangri-lá a Dao Cheng
… from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng

[clear]

Note: photos taken from inside the bus

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Primary Sidebar

Sharing is caring… Stepping Out Of Babylon remains free (and without advertisement). It takes me hundreds of hours to research, organize and write… and thousands of euros to sustain.

As I put all my love, effort and ‘free time’ in this project I would love to continue my journey providing all the information to make your trip easier and cheaper… or just inspire you with nice texts and good photos.

If you find any interest and value in what I do, please consider supporting my work with a donation of your choosing, between a cup of coffee and a good dinner.

With Love!

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...
€

Give what you can

Select Payment Method
Personal Info

Donation Total: €5.00

Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox.

  • 3,406,415
  • 967,607
  • 585

Footer

Products

  • Tattooed Man. Myanmar Tattooed Man. Myanmar 35€ – 60€
  • Jungle morning mist. Thailand Jungle morning mist. Thailand 35€
  • Newspaper man. India Newspaper man. India 35€ – 60€
  • Exile is a hard job. Bombay Exile is a hard job. Bombay 35€ – 60€
  • Smoking a thoughtful cigarette. Nagaland Smoking a thoughtful cigarette. Nagaland 35€ – 60€

Tags

Arugam Bay Assam Bali Border Crossing Borneo Cappadocia Colombo Dambulla Esfahan Fes Food Gilis Hiking Hikkaduwa Istanbul Itinerary Jakarta Java Kandy Kashan Kataragama Kathmandu Kohima Lombok Majuli Meghalaya Meknes Nagaland Natural Park Nongriat Northeast States Ouarzazate Sarawak Shiraz Sichuan Province Sumatra Tabriz Tehran transportation Varanasi Visa Yangon Yazd Yogyakarta Yunnan Province

search

Categories

  • English
  • Português

Copyright © 2025 · SOOB Infinity Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

%d
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok