Derge
Dege, or Derge, is an old town situated in the valley in west Sichuan mountains. Derge is one of the three cultural centers of Tibetan Region(the other two being Lhasa of Tibet and Labrang of Gansu Province). It is home to many masters of Tibetan Medicine and the biggest sutra printing center in the whole Tibet. It is the home of ancient Kham of Tibet and many important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.
To go to the south or west of the mountains in Dzogchen or Chola Mountains, one needs to get to Derge and use it as a stopover place. Especially for the mountains south of Chola.
Derge is at 3200m, Ganzi is at 3400m, Ganzi Airport is at 4050m, Manigango is at 3900m, Dzogchen Village is at 4000m. From Chengdu to Derge it is a long way to drive. Normally it takes 2 days minimum to get to Derge by driving from Chengdu. There is a new airport called Ganzi Gesar Airport located near Manigango. There are direct flights from Chengdu to Ganzi. Flying saves around 1 and half days’ drive. Gesar Airport is a new airport that is open in 2019 near the town of Ganzi. It is located 54km west to Ganzi and 136km east to Derge. The airport is 45km to Manigange. There is one flight from Chengdu each day. Airport is located by the north of Gangga Mountains and the elevation of 4066m.
In Derge Town food and accommodations are available and easy to come by. There is also a hospital in Derge.
Manigango
Manigango is a single-street town at the edge of grassland near Chola Mountain at the road conjunction of Derge, Sershul and Ashu Grassland. It is a typical Tibetan town in west Sichuan. It was already an important transfer and post station where the caravan fleets stop since the establishment of “Tea-Horse Road” in ancient times. It is considered another cowboy town on the Tibetan Plateau. Manigango is the intersection of Qinghai and Tibet from Sichuan. Go to north one goes to Sershul and then further on to Qinghai in Yushul. Go to west one gets to Derge and then further into Tibet in Chamdo.
Manigango has no hospital but some guesthouses and restaurants are available.
Climbing trip to Mt. Chola usually goes in from Yilhun Latso (Xinluhai) which is 15km west to Manigango. Xinluhai has nothing but some local houses where you can hire porters.
Dzogchen (Zhuqen)
Dzogchen (Zhuqen) is a village developed from the Dzogchen Monastery. From Dzogchen one gets access to the Dzogchen Mountains from the north side. Dzogchen Monastery is also called Zhuqen Monastery, or in Chinese Zhuqing Monastery. Dzogchen indicates the large area of where the monastery and the neighboring area including the town of Dzogchen and the open land and the mountains in this area. South to Dzogchen Monastery there are some big mountains over 5500 meters. The beautiful lakes including Dangzitso Lake and Etso Lake are in this area in the mountains.
