Take the flight to Xining City in Qinghai Province.
The city is situated on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau at 2200m. Today it is a quite modern city and there is little left of the old walled town that used to be the main trading station between China and Tibet and entrance to the Silk Road. The population today is Chinese, Tibetan, Mongol, Muslim and Tu.

We drive for 4 hours to Kokonor, the biggest holy lake in Tibet and largest salt lake in China covers an area of 4581 Square KM, four times big as Hong Kong. As early as three thousands years ago, Mongolia and Tibetan nomadic people believed that a hundred per cent of the holy lakes and the holy mountains contain unique treasures or minerals underneath. Those minerals give out a kind of magnetism or spirit to a few special sensitive Masters, like Shaman or Living Buddha, through whom to teach people on how to respect and protect natures in order to receive the good luck waves from those holy mountains and lakes to have a good fate of life. In May of 1578, King of the Mongols, Altan Qan gave the title Dalai Lama 3 to Sonam Gyatso at east shore of Lake Kokonor. The Living Buddha system of Gelukpa started since then. 
Overnight Qinghai Lake hotel**
Kokonor Lake in Xining City,Qinghai
Kokonor Lake in Xining City,Qinghai

Drive 170km to Guide (Tibetan: Trika) County.
Guide is located on the bank of the beautiful Yellow River. Most of the Tibetans in this area work half the year farming and the other half-year tending yak and sheep in the mountains. Guide produces many kinds of fruits and the landscape has particular characteristics. 
Overnight Hot Spring Hotel.

Drive 360km (8 hours) to Machen(玛沁县), altitude 3900m.Machen in Tibetan means: The highest mountain of the Yellow River. The county is the homeland of the Tibetan Golok people, another strong tribe of Tibetan. The Golok means: Marching strait ahead and never turn back your head. The holy mountain of Amnye Machen was revered by the Bonpo and Buddhist alike. It is also the home of the sacred protector of the Gologs, Machen Pomra. It was suggested up to 1949 that the holy mountain was the higher, even than Everest, but the height was finally fixed during the 1960’s at 6282m. 
Overnight Xueshan Hotel or other better Hotel.
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour

Drive to Tsanak Somdu (Chinese: Sancha kou) and crossing Ynima pass, where you will get the first view of the Mt. Amnye Machen, meet the local horses and yaks works at Tasnak Somdu, the first starting point of (Kora) trekking in clockwise. Trek about 15 km (6 hours) along the Yonkhor-chu River to Langri, Yongkhor-chu River is the place where the monks or Tibetan traditional Medical practitioners receive the blessing from Naga (Water god) after collecting the herbs. You will often see the monks by the River and do the Medical prayers. Continue passing some nomadic houses set among sparse juniper woods in the hills around, average altitude:4,100 m, camping at Sarlong.
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour

rekking about 24 km (8 hours), pass the entrance to the Halong Langri-chu valley, pass Tamchok Gongkha La pass ( Damqiao Pass, 4,700 m), the highest pass on this trekking, where you will see the local people offer incense and prayer flag to the holly mountain every morning. Also the best place for the view of the mountain and glacier. Average altitude:(4,400 m), camping Tamchok Gongkhar.

Trekking 20 km (7 hours) to the rock formation valley of Mowatowa. Where you will see lots of wild sheep and many other wild animals. It's said the King of 
 
Gesar also used stay here and his one thousand stone heap offering still can be seen here. Average altitude: 4,300 m, camping at Shima Tongpul or Kueke.
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour

Trekking 22 km (8 hours) to Deleni, visit meditation caves and the variegated cliffs of Goku Chenmo (which is said to mark the entrance to the "palace" of the protector Machen Pomra,), average altitude: 4,300 m, camping at Jomo langra.

Trekking 14 km (6 hours) to JiashiNongke, follow the gorge of the Qushian River, visit Dolma Gur-chu spring and the spur where King Gesar was said to tie his horse. Average altitude: 4,300 m, camping at Longpo. You will spend the last 4 days of trekking along the side of River Drakdar, which is to the NW of Mt. Amnye Machen, you can see some bushes along the trekking, eventually you can come nearer to the edge of glacier.

Trekking about 15 km to Jiashinongke (6 hours), on the way visit Guri Gonpa, a branch of Dzongchen and Dodrub Chode of the Nyingma school. And also you will see the prayer flag. It's said the place where Amnye Machen's younger brother Dadu Wangchuk lives. It is also the starting point for Tibetan pilgrims from west side. Alt:4,100 m, camping at Dadul

Trekking 18 km to Chablong (6 hours), on the way enjoy the view of the grassland and primitive bushes. average altitude: 4,300 m, camping Drikde.

Trekking about 22 km (8 hours) to Halong-chu valley, pass the Drakdar Pass ( Zhihede). The second highest pass on this trekking.(4,700m), viewing the scenery of Weigele Glacier, average altitude: 4,450 m, camping at Hanglong.
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour
Amnye Machen Kora Mountain Pilgrimage Trekking Tour

Trekking 18 km to Chorten Karpo (White Pogoda) at Chumarna where we meet the driver. On the way, you will see the King of Geser's incense offering. Recently it was built as a monastery just buy the Yichu River. In the afternoon drive for 2.5 hours to arrive in Machen. Xueshan Hotel or similar.

Another long day’s drive over the high plateau (reaching 5000m), passing plains scattered with nomadic summer camps. Worth a visit en route is Drubgyuling gompa with its hundreds of young student lamas, to the hamlet of Xiewu in the afternoon where the plateau begins to break up into the mountains and valleys of Kham. With time, a chance to stop off at the Sakyapa monastery overlooking Xiewu, before heading along a valley lined with monasteries, burial grounds and what might indeed be the worlds’ largest mani pile (Gyanak Mani).
Bayan Kala Mountain in Maduo County,Qinghai.
Bayan Kala Mountain in Maduo County,Qinghai.

Drive from Huashixia Town to Jyekundo (Yushu).
Nearing Yushu the road descends to the Yangtze into the gorge country of Kham, where the 3 rivers – the Yangtze, the Mekong and theSalween – flow off the plateau in close proximity. Yushu is a big town with even a few internet cafes. Pulling up to the festival site as the sun goes down, fires being lit and tents going up… Great stuff.
What also adds special character to this area (and thus to the festival) is that the Yushu area has long been dominated by the Sakyapa and Kagyüpa schools of Tibetan Buddhism rather that the more orthodox Gelukpa school.Camp

Leaving Yushu the trail climbs out of the valleys back up to the high plateau, aiming southwest for Shiqu (Sershul). Shortly before town is Sershul gompa Monastery（色须寺） - probably the only monastery you’ll ever see built with pink(!) tiles - a large and obviously rich monastery, it’s a bit more Han than Tibetan Buddhist.
Back on the road to Shiqu(石渠县) proper, which was recently a small concrete town filled mostly with Han Chinese PLA and police, but is now a busy-ish market town, mostly Tibetan. Bumnying gompa (Gelukpa) is here, home to some 200 monks.4WD, Hotel
Sershul gompa Monastery in Shiqu County,Sichuan.
Sershul gompa Monastery in Shiqu County,Sichuan.

Departing Shiqu, detours worth taking if enough time include Tsatsa gompa and Rinyur gompa, as well as Zhechen gompa gotten to via a pristine mountain-lined valley. Further north and alongside the main road, set in a ‘hidden valley’, is the 17c Dzogchen gompa (Nyingma), one of the most important monasteries in Kham and a renowned school for Dzogchen teachings.
Cross 4633m Muri la pass（雀儿山垭口） and drive through wide nomad country before arriving to the wild-west-kind-of-town of Manigange(马尼干戈乡), home to Yazer gompa (Nyingma).

Leaving Sichuan-Qinghai ‘highway’, road slowly ascends, en route passing Yilhun Lhatso (4500m), a beautiful blue lake surrounded by snowy mountains, held very sacred by Tibetans as evidenced by all the mani stone piles and prayer flags. Soon after the road crests at Tro la (4916m) and the landscape changes from grassland to forests. Descend via a series of switchbacks, the trail enveloped between the steep sides of the Zi-chu river gorge before coming into Dege.
Dege is a remote city with a long history, once the seat of the Kingdom of Dêrge, whose kings ruled this area independent of interference from either Lhasa or Beijing. Its most famous building is the Parkhang Printery, which has been the main source of printed materials for much of the Kham area. Today it’s possible to observe the monks at work, using the same age-old wood block techniques. Gonchen gompa, largely gutted, has now been restored, but with the original shell largely intact.
Xinluhai Lake and Muri La Mountain Derge County,Sichuan.
Xinluhai Lake and Muri La Mountain Derge County,Sichuan.

VisitDerge Scripture Printing House/德格印经院 in the morning.Located in Gengqing monastery on the east bank of Jinsha(Sequ) River, the place was founded in year 1729 in the Qing Dynasty. The construction took 21 years. The main structure is a four-storey building with more than 30 rooms. The first floor consists of several sutra halls where Buddha and the ancestors of the Dege clan are worshipped. The second and third floors have rooms for proofreading, engraving blocks, printing and binding, plus administrative offices. The fourth floor is used to air the printed pages.
Not a whole lot of miles covered this day, so plenty of time to make the detour to Pelpung Gompa(八邦寺) or Babang Monastery via a scenic narrow mountain road. The establishment of this 18c monastery quickly made this region the centre for the Karma Kagyüpa school. It’s been designated one of world’s most important endangered monuments by World Monuments Fund. It’s a huge complex, visible for miles from its hilltop perch. Known as the Little Potala, some reckon its architecture to be Kham’s most stunning. Back to the main road, continue following the Yangtze to the small town of Hepo, just beyond which is another important monastery, the early 12c Katok gompa located 850m above town.
Excepting Samye (near Lhasa) this is the oldest surviving Nyingma monastery, making it a hugely religiously significant site. Following the Yangtze a bit further one reaches Baiyu, is a pretty Tibetan town with tree-lined streets and the river Ding-chu flowing through it. The important Pelyul gompa (Nyingmapa) is located atop a hill behind town.
Pelpung(Babang) Gompa Monastery in Derge County,Sichuan.
Pelpung(Babang) Gompa Monastery in Derge County,Sichuan.

Visit Palyul Monastery in the morning.
First following a little travelled road east, past the Dorkho Gompa (Sakya), to meet up with the Yalong River, where the trail turns north and follows the steep gorge of the Nyarong valley into deep Nyingma country, through a forested, fairly secluded valley. Xinlong is capital of Nyarong county and largely unvisited due to a road only recently repaired. Set atop the hill behind town is Zera gompa, a teaching monastery with about upwards of 50 monks here.

A day’s back-country drive to Litang, following the river south. At 4000m Litang is one of the highest towns in the world, set on a broad grassland with Lithang gompa dominating it from the north. It has played a central part in the region, from its days as an independent Kingdom, allied with Kagyü rulers of the Kingdom of Dêrge, through to its absorption by the great Gelukpa expansion east in the 16th, 17th & 18th centuries, to its position as a (nominal) outpost of the Qing dynasty all the way through to its role as a centre of resistance in the Khampa uprising against the incoming PLA in the 1950’s. As with Ganzi further north, it’s a market town and administrative centre, heavily coloured by its roots as a trading post for the Khampa nomads that populate the high plains.
Visit Litang Grassland and Litang River from the Genie Snow Mountain behind Litang County.

From Litang the road quickly climbs to the edge of a high and sparse plateau, most the day’s drive spent crossing the high rocky moonscape of Haizi Shan. A wee village a few years ago, set along the Shu-chu River, today Xiangcheng is a bustling rural town which has been given a massive face lift. Surrounding the city, residents still live in attractive stone houses. Its Tibetan name means ‘rosaries in Buddha’s hand’, while in Chinese historical annals it was long referred to as White Wolf State.
Litang Monastery in Litang County,Sichuan
Litang Monastery in Litang County,Sichuan

Morning visit to Chaktreng gompa. Rebuilt in the early noughts, it’s a huge towering colourful affair. Then from Xiangcheng a long day’s drive passing through the high rocky moonscape of Haizi Shan, the road making its way across a high and sparse plateau before dropping down to Litang. Drive along the Big and Small Moutains with some original forests. The road from Xiangcheng quickly begins to twist and turn its way up to the Sichuan border, crossing two high passes en route to Zhongdian.
Zhongdian (3344m) - now optimistically renamed Shangri-La - is home of Songzanlin monastery. This sprawling and, in historical terms, very key monastery was commissioned in the 17c by the DL5, and was the central monastery in the Gelukpa order’s south-eastern expansion. Evening options to consider are dinner at a neighbourhood DIY grill house, and a soak under the stars at the Natural Bridge hot springs. Since the retreat of the Tibetans from the Lijiang area in the 19c, Zhongdian (Tib. Gyalthang) has pretty much marked the south-eastern border of Kham Tibet in Yunnan. Up until a few yeas ago, it had the rough reputation of a classic frontier town - but now things have calmed down, and its markets and the old town make for a fruitful afternoon stroll.
Daxiao Snow Mountains between Shangrila and Xiangcheng.
Daxiao Snow Mountains between Shangrila and Xiangcheng.

From Shangri-La, we'll drive about 100KM to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. With 34 rapids of the Yangtze River, it is called the Jinsha in this area because we can find gold in the river. Afternoon, we'll head for Shangri La, the former Zhongdian. Upon arrival in Shangri La, we will have entered the Tibetan cultural area and a landscape of barley fields and yaks scattered in the valleys. 
After lunch continue the driving 50KM more to visit the First Bend on the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, and the Iron Chain Bridge in the Stone Drum town. The town of Stone Drum got its name from a large, cylindrical, marble tablet shaped like a drum. The scenery is magnificent as the road running through the Lijiang valley which is filled with wheat fields and drying haystacks.
Drive 60KM more to Lijiang. Explore Lijiang Old Town at night.

Transfer to Lijiang International Airport for returning.
Service ends.
Lijiang Ancient Town,Yunnan.
Lijiang Ancient Town,Yunnan.
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