Daocheng稻城

The Yading reserve hides deep in the Hengduan ranges of southern Daocheng: the peaks Xiannairi, Yangmaiyong and Xianuoduoji stand in a triangle that Tibetan Buddhists revere as the embodiments of Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani, with the glacial lakes Pearl, Milk and Five-Color set between them. Joseph Rock reached here in 1928, and his subsequent National Geographic feature is widely believed to have seeded the Shangri-La of Lost Horizon — hence the last Shangri-La. Today the gateway is Shangri-La township (~2,900m) at the reserve entrance, with Daocheng-Yading Airport (4,411m, the world's highest civil airport) on the county-town side. This is not an easy sightseeing stop: the county town sits at ~3,700m and the long trek climbs to ~4,700m. Respect the altitude and the place opens up to you.

Nature

A high-altitude theater of three peaks and three lakes

• Xiannairi (commonly cited ~6,032m), with Pearl Lake at its foot
• Yangmaiyong and Xianuoduoji (commonly cited ~5,958m; figures vary by source)
• The Pearl Lake short trail: ~3km round trip, the gentlest way in
• The Milk/Five-Color long trek: climbing to 4,500-4,700m, 6-9 hours round trip

Culture

The peaks are objects of faith before they are views

• The kora (circumambulating the peaks) is a centuries-old pilgrimage — a lifelong aspiration for many Tibetans
• Chonggu Temple stands at the first stop inside, between snow and meadow
• Yading village is a living Tibetan village inside the reserve, not a stage set
• Stay out of the sacred lakes — no swimming or washing, out of respect for both faith and ecology

The honest trade-off

Altitude is the first protagonist of this trip

• County town ~3,700m, Shangri-La township ~2,900m, trek high point ~4,700m — the spread is your strategy
• Build in an acclimatization day and sleep low (in the township)
• Serious heart/lung conditions and pregnancy are reasons not to come
• Township supermarkets sell bottled oxygen; the reserve staffs medical points at Chonggu Temple and Luorong pasture