Introduction
Kangding (康定) is the frontier town between traditional China and Tibet. It is located 270km west to capital city Chengdu of Sichuan Province. Kangding is the capital city of Ganzi Tibetan Prefecture. Kangding is one of the biggest cities in traditional Tibetan area. Historically it was an important business centre between China and Tibet on the Tea-horse-road. Datseto is the former name of Kangding. Kangding is the center of Kham Tibet, a religious, economy center of this part of Sichuan. Around Kangding is the most prominent mountains of Sichuan or eastern Tibet. It is the stopover place for trips to Minya Konka, and other ranges in this region including Lotus Mountains, Yala Mountains, Xiqqiangla Mountains. Kangding is also the first town when you go further to places such as Genyen or Chola.
Kangding is at the alttiude of 2500 meters to 2600 meters. The whole town lies in a river valley. At present there are 2 parts of the town, the old part and the new part. The old part of Kangding is crowded and busy while the new part is high up the valley. Kangding is a mixed Chinese-Tibetan town with a larger proportion of its population being Tibetan people.
Location and Map
You can go to Kangding by bus, by air or by private car. Kangding is an essential transfer place of western Sichuan. A train is estimated to run between Chengdu and Kangding in the next 10 years’ time. A more popular way of getting there is by bus. The bus departs several shifts from Chengdu at Chengdu Xinnanmen Tourist Center every day. All the buses depart at Xinnanmen Bus Station are before 2 pm. The bus takes about 4 hours from Chengdu to Kangding.
There is an airport in Kangding which has flights between Chengdu and Kangding. The flight schedules on every day all year round. From the airport it is another 1.5 hours drive to the town of Kangding.
Climate & Weather
Kangding is a big place and it refers not only the town of Kangding but also the areas around Kangding including the mountains. West to the mountains of Kangding usually has a much different climate. At Kangding the altitude is at 2500 meters while at the base of the mountains the altitude is usually at above 3500 meters, where it is much colder. The higher altitude places are usually colder and with more changing weather.
The climate of Kangding can be summarized as a late spring, a short summer, a short autumn and a cold winter. Spring is from March to May when normally the snow will melt up on the mountains. June and August are the raining seasons, with the average temperature range from 20 °C (65 °F) and 25 °C (83 °F) during daytime. Autumn comes at early September. Winter came by November and will last until the next early March. Weather changes quickly in summer time. For climbing windows are usually in April, May, September, October to November.
Food and Accommodations
Plenty of good hotels are available in Kangding. Above all Kangding is the biggest town of Garze Tibetan Prefecture. It has hotels of 4 stars and 3 stars. There are also plenty of local Tibetan guesthouses, clean and cost-effective. Kangding is not a very touristy place though. It is the economy and business center of western Sichuan, there are a lot of people traveling here all year round.
Transport/Porter Service
Taxi is easy to get while in the town. To go further into the valleys or mountains you need to hire a local car because public transfer usually can’t get you far. Porter is available at main entrances of the valleys including Laoyulin, where it is access to Lamoshe and the northern peaks of Minya Konka.
Shopping and Medical-related
There are plenty shops you can buy food, snacks, fruit and vegetables. There is also a vegetable market down the river junction where you can find vegetables, fruit and meat. Kangding has a population of around 50,000 and it has a main hospital by Gongzhu Bridge (公主桥).
Laoyulin
Laoyulin is a village located 10km south to the town of Kangding. The village is located by 3200 meters with plenty of homestays and porter people. Laoyulin is often used as starting location for expeditions to Minya Konka North and Lamoshe west. To drive from Kangding to Laoyulin now only takes 20 minutes. The village scatters from north to south from New Kangding to the valley where road turns east. From road end another basic road goes further into the valley of Minya Konka for another 5km to a small water reservior where the road ends. From there it is around 20km to the end of valley at Riuqie by foot.
Zhonggu Village
Zhonggu Village is the base for westface of Lotus Mountains Zhonggu is a village with some guesthouses available and Zhonggu is at elevation of around 3000m.
Kangding Airport
Kangding Airport was built in 2007. It is located at Kangding in western Sichuan, 38km west to the town of Kangding and 45km north to Minya Konka. Elevation of this Airport is at 4300 meters. It is one of the highest airports in the world. There are lots of direct flights to Kangding from Chengdu, Chongqing. It has scheduled flights from all year round. At the airport there is no accommodations available, the nearest town is Kangding where you can find many hotels and hostels to stay for overnight. Kangding is one of the biggest towns in western Sichuan. At Kangding there are many restaurants, hotels and shops. By driving to Kangding from the airport it is about 1-2 hour depending on traffic. From the airport you can also drive to Ganzi in 6 hours, Derge in 8 hours, Litang in 4 hours.One issue is driving from Chengdu to Kangding takes around 3-4h, flying from Chengdu takes 1h plus the checking in and checking out time. Plus if your destination is Kangding then if you use flight then there is another 1.5h drive from airport to Kangding, which is not time-efficient. Unless you are going further west from airport or with limited time, flying is a good option.
