Jiarong Tibetans are one of branches of the ethnic Tibetans, and now living mainly in Danba area. There are two origins for the word “Jiarong”(嘉绒) , also go by “Gyarong རྒྱལ་རོང་”.
One means “Jia Mo Cha Wa Rong” (嘉莫察瓦绒), or simplified as “Jiarong”, an old administrative region referring to the area surrounding the sacred mountain known as Moerduo Sacred Mountain (墨尔多神山), where Jiarong Tibetans now largely live.
The other means “the Queen of the Valley” referring to the lost Danba Eastern Kingdom of Women (丹巴东女国) that once existed in Danba area.
Suopoxiang & the Eastern Kingdom
On the afternoon of October 19, with much curiosity we drive along the east bank of Dadu River from Zhangguzhen ( the seat of Danba County) and get to Suopoxiang (Suopo Township 梭坡乡), further to the Muluo Village (Moluocun), about 7km drive.
Suopo Township is composed of several villages perched on the mountain slopes facing west by the east side of Dadu River Valley, including the village known as “Moluocun (Moluo Village 莫洛村)” we are going to visit.
Drive from Zhangguzhen (Danba) to Moluocun (village) Google Map
The legend goes that Suopo Township was part of the Eastern Kingdom of Women that once existed during Sui and Tang dynasties (518- 907 AD ). In the Eastern Kingdom, ruled by a queen, men had a secondary rule. The queen lived in a high stone square tower. The kingdom was governed by all women, and men only did the farming or went to war. The Eastern Kingdom of Women was later conquered by Tubo Empire.
Moluocun (Moluo Village) 莫洛村
Getting to the foot of the Moluo Village in Suopo, we pay 10 yuan to park our Highlander at the parking lot at the foot of the village. A Jiarong Tibetan girl comes up to collect the 10 yuan. We understand she is in charge of the parking lot. Having heard a lot about the beauty of the women in Danba, the descendants of the Eastern Kingdom of Women, I fancy taking a picture of a local Jiarong girl.
With her permit, I take a photo of the parking lot caretaker. She keeps her long hairs with tired braids covered in her fascinator from her back to the top of her head. Her fascinator is varicolored with beads and pendents.
A Jiarong Tibetan girl
Home Visit to a Jiarong Family
A Jiarong Tibetan man at the parking lot actively introduces himself as an owner of one of the most magnificent ancient watchtower in the village, eagerly guiding us to walk up the village for a glimpse of the towers. He says he works as a security guide in a bank in the downtown Danba. On the weekends or in spare time, he helps his wife introduce tourists to his home for paid visits.
We agree on the 50 yuan entrance fee for his home watchtower, and we follow him walking up along stone steps to his home. On the way, he says that there are totally about 562 stone watchtowers in Danba, scattered around 15 townships including Suopo Township. There are 175 ancient watchtowers in Suopo Township, scattered around 13 villages. Most of the watchtowers belong to private families.
The original building of the towers
He continues to say the original building of the towers was used to suppress demons, later they became fortresses to protect families from aggressive enemies. It also served as warning beacons to help protect local villages from potential attackers. People placed valuable things, jewelry, money inside the watchtowers. He deliberately mentions that Suopo was once part of the Danba Eastern Kingdom of Women. The watchtowers were also the symbols of worshipping a male sex organ during the rule of Eastern Kingdom of Women.
Getting to his home perched high on the mountain slope, he points to the potted flowers in front of his main room in the compound, saying Jiarong Tibetans love flowers, Gasang flowers.
Jiarong Tibetans love flowers, Gasang flowers
The kitchen room is on the first floor.
The kitchen room is on the first floor.
We use an exterior ladder to climb up on to the second floor, the living place for his family.
The second floor, the living place for his family
On the rooftop of the second floor, he introduces his watchtower attached to his blockhouse and encourages us to climb up the tower. A ladder takes you to a window in the tower meters high above the rooftop.
Inside the tower, there are wooden ladders carved with steps easy for visitors to climb up. The inside levels of the tower are accessible through the several wooden ladders.
A window on the tower meters high above the rooftop
Mr. Chen takes the risk of climbing up step by step along the wooden ladders leading to the top.
Mr. Chen takes the risk of climbing up step by step along the wooden ladders
Standing on the rooftop of the second floor, he points to the neighbouring blockhouses attached with four watchtowers.
Neighbouring blockhouses attached with four watchtowers
The rooftop on the third floor is for storing grain. Taking a picture of the watchtowers nearby from the third floor rooftop.
The rooftop on the third floor is for staring grain
More ancient watchtowers in Suopo Town. The ancient watchtowers here remind me of the Kaiping Diaolou (watchtowers) im Kaiping County, 130km southwest of Guangzhou.
If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Chengdu and Sichuan guided tours:
There are the four following Tibetan traditional regions:
1) U-Tsang in the central region of Tibet 2) Ngari in the far west region of Tibet 3) Kham in the west of Sichuan 4) Amdo in Qinghai.
Note: Ngari is on the west of U-Tsang Region
So, Kham is one of the four Tibetan traditional regions. Jiarong Tibetans ( Gyarong Tibetans 嘉绒藏族) are one of the branches of the ethnic Tibetans in Kham.
Where do the Jiarong Tibetans live?
Today most of the Jiarong Tibetans live in Danba County (Rongtrak), Jinchuan, Xiaojin (Tsenlha), Heshui (Trochu), Ma’erkang (Barkham), Wenchuan (Lunggu) and Kangding (Dartsedo).
The main regions where Jiarong Tibetans live (Google Map)
Except for a small number of Jiarong Tibetans living nomadic lifestyle on the high plateau ( over 2500m ), most Jiarong Tibetans are farmers doing barley farming between 1800m and 2500m with fertile land and much more temperate climate.
Where do the Jiarong Tibetans come from?
Jiarong Tibetans are one of branches of the ethnic Tibetans, and now living mainly in Danba area. There are two origins for the word “Jiarong”(嘉绒) , also go by “Gyarong རྒྱལ་རོང་”.
One means “Jia Mo Cha Wa Rong” (嘉莫察瓦绒), or simplified as “Jiarong”, an old administrative region referring to the area surrounding the sacred mountain known as Moerduo Sacred Mountain (墨尔多神山), where Jiarong Tibetans now largely live. The other means “the Queen of the Valley” referring to the lost Danba Eastern Kingdom of Women (丹巴东女国) that once existed in Danba area.
Jiarong Tibetans are the descendants of the locals mixed with the frontier soldiers and migrants from Tubo Kingdom (618-842 A.D.).
Tubo Kingdom witnessed one of the most powerful periods in Tibet’s history. The great Tibetan leader Songtsan Gambo unified over 10 separate tribes during Tang Dynasty (618-907) in China, and established the Tubo Kingdom. He chose his capital in the present-day Lhasa. The Tubo Kingdom set the foundation for today’s prosperous Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism.
Over its 200 hundred years of rule, the Tubo Kingdom was engaged in expanding its territory towards the east and took up large parts of the Tang Empire.
But after the collapse of Tubo Kingdom, these soldiers were unable to return home and remained in regions now known as Qinghai and Sichuan including Danba.
They have some unique ways as a separate branch of the Tibetan ethnic group distinct from other Tibetans in the aspects of their origin, housing, clothing, dining, custom, festivals,culture and a dialect of their own.
Dan Ba Jiaju Tibetan Stockaded Village
On October 19, we visit Dan Ba Jiaju Tibetan Stockaded Village, a typical Jiarong Tibetan village, about 3 km north of the Zhanghuzhen (Zhanggu Town, the seat of Danba County.
Jiaju Tibetan Stockaded Village is located 3km north of Zhangguzhen (Danba）
There are a slew of Jiarong Tibetan villages in the surrounding mountainous areas. Jiaju Tibetan Stockaded Village (甲居藏寨) with 270 Tibetan houses is oft-lauded as the most grandeur and beautiful.
The village cascading from the hillside of the Kapama Mountains
When first seeing the village cascading from the hillsides of the Kapama Mountains down to the bottom of the Dajin River, we are still shocked at its beauty though we already have had some anticipation of the much hyped village in advance.
Some stone houses are clustered and some are perched separately in the green forested hill slopes with terraced agricultural fields.
Some houses are clustered on the hill slope.
some village houses are perched separately on the green forested hillsides.
some are perched separately in the green forested
The Jiarong Tibetan Village Houses clinging to the forested mountain slopes, tier above tier
The stone houses clinging to the forested mountain slopes, tier above tier
Jiarong Tibetan Blockhouses
These Tibetan fortress-like houses are mainly made of stone and wood. These stone houses are built using the quarried stones with a tradition of Qiang people.
The stone houses once served as a defensive strong point against any enemy, a kind of blockhouses popular in Jianrong Tibetan villages. The traditional Tibetan blockhouse has three floors.
The traditional Tibetan blockhouse has three floors.
The top floor is often used for storing grain, corn and hanging clothes; the middle floor are the living rooms for human beings, and the first floor is the place for livestock and fodder.
The top floor is often used for storing grain
Jiarong typical blockhouses are square in shape with narrow upper side and broader lower side, a style of quadrangle dwelling houses.
The walls are made by stones, enhanced by glutinous rice and slaked lime with white and black colors.
The walls are piled up by stones, inserted by polished glutinous rice and slaked lime.
The Jiarong Tibetan blockhouses are flat-roofed except for glorious parapets in the four corners that are sometimes adorned with prayer flags.
The four upturned eaves are representative of the four sacred mountains in Tibet.
The spectacular parapets of Jiarong blockhouses
The massive stone houses have upper floors accessible by ladders, the only way into the vertical construction in the past.
The massive stone houses have upper floors accessible by ladders
Jiarong Tibetan homes are all decorated with flowers. Galsang Flower is a must for local villagers. As the legend goes, no matter who you are , if you can find the eight-petal Galsang flower, then you can find happiness.
The eight-petal Galsang flower
Our unnamed host of the Jiarong Tibetan home we have just visited poses for us to take a picture of him who is sitting by his house overlooking the mountain slope, smoking and enjoying his bucolic life.
If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Chengdu and Sichuan guided tours:
Yesterday we traveled all the way from Daocheng back to Xinduqiao (358km) via Litang (148km) and Yajiang (286km), getting over Rabbit Mountain Pass (4696m), Kazila Mountain Pass (4718m), Jianziwan Mountain Pass (4659m) and Gaoersi Mountain Pass (4412m).
Last time we entered Xinduqiao Town around 2:00pm on October 09, for the first time, driving from Kangding to Xinduqiao, and spending 2 hours photographing the bucolic landscape along the National Highway G318 in the town; two hours later we continued to get from Xinduqiao to Yajiang.
Xinduqiao Town, a mecca for camera-toting tourists
Xinduqiao has become a buzzword in the past 20 years. The big increase of photography enthusiasts around China thrusts the place into the limelight. Yesterday afternoon we saw the one-street town was peppered with camera-toting tourists looking for lights and colors.
Xinduqiao Town is recognized on the Google Map as “Xinduqiaozhen”, and here “zhen” literally means “town”. Xinduqiaozhen is about 80km west of Kangding and 437 km west of Chengdu, Xinduqiao (新都桥) is a town under the administration of Kangding.
The influx into the town of tourists and photography aficionados has greatly developed the local economy, especially in the hotel and catering fields. At nightfall, the hotels and restaurants colorfully lit garnished the far-flung town with a layer of modernity.
We stay at Muya Se’e Hotel (木雅色俄酒店). The hotel is also used as an army service station ( a guesthouse for transit servicemen). The staff at the front desk were nice and very helpful. The room is up to the 3 star standard with basic modern facilities, comfy and clean with wifi service.
We stayed at Muya Se’e Hotel at Xinduqiao Town
Scenic Xinduqiao to Danba （ 丹巴 ） Road Trip
We leave Xinduquao Town at 9:00am and start up our long-expected self-drive trip from Xinduqiao at 3450m to Danba at 1860m.
Xinduqiaozhen to Danba Road Trip Map
It is a wonderful 150 km drive morphing from Muya Tibeten area (木雅藏族聚居区) to Jiarong Tibetan area (嘉绒藏族聚居区).
We are leaving Xinduqiao Town around 9:00am
We are supposed to drive on the provincial level Highway S303, linking Xinduqiao to the National Highway G317 in the north and passing by Tagong (33km) and Bamei (60km); at Bameizhen ( Bamei Town), turn to the northeast direction on the S303 for Danba County (87km).
Xinduqiaozhen to Danba passing by Tagong & Bameizhen
Muya (木雅) and Jiarong (嘉绒)
Muya, aka Minyak (木雅) and Jiarong, aka Gyarong (嘉绒) are two branches of the ethnic Tibetans living in Kham. Kham is one of the four Tibetan traditional regions – 1) Ngari: in the far west region of Tibet; 2) U-Tsang: in the central region of Tibet; 3) Kham in the southeast of Tibetand 4) Amdo: in the northeast of Tibet.
Muya Tibetans and Jiarong Tibetans speak the Tibetic languages which are mutually unintelligible to a large extent. The languages have no script, but the oral languages are very much alive. They both speak Mandarin Chinese when they need to communicate with outsiders.
Muya Tibetans (aka Minyak Tibetans) live in the area between Zheduo Mountain and Yajiang ( including Xinduqiao), south of Danba and north of Jiulong County, a historically regarded by Tibetans as “Muya” (or Minyak) territory. They are half farmers, and half nomads.
Jiarong Tibetans ( aka Gyarong Tibetans ) live in Danba (Rongtrak), Jinchuan, Xiaojin (Tsenlha), Heshui (Trochu), Ma’erkang (Barkham), Wenchuan (Lunggu) and Kangding (Dartsedo) in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The Jiarong area is very fertile at relatively low elevations between 1800m and 2500m. Most people work in farming thanks to the much more temperate climate than the nearby Amdo and Kham regions.
Muya Tibetans and Jiarong Tibetans are different in the aspects of clothing, housing, customs and festivals. We drive gradually from the 3450m Xinduqiao down to the 1800m Danba, detecting the smooth transition from the mixed Pastoral and settled farming to settled farming and agriculture.
Xinduqiao – Tagong (33km) 新都桥至塔公
Driving 7km westwards through the one street town for about 10 minutes and turn north at the first intersection on the provincial level Highway S303, we will pass by Tagong (33km), Bamei (60km) and Danba (143km).
S313 from Xinduqiao to Tagong and on to Bamei.
Again it is a sightseeing asphalt avenue on a flat valley lined with golden meadows, crystal-clear streams, yellow poplar trees and Tibetan stone houses against the meandering mountains under the canopy of the blue sky and white clouds.
A sightseeing asphalt avenue on a flat valley.
Yaks and horses grazing on the expansive roadside meadows on the valley between the undulating mountains.
Yaks and horses grazing on the expansive roadside meadows
Some local Tibetan villagers here are scattered on the mountain slopes surrounded by fields instead of being in a clustered settlement. Most of the Muya Tibetan houses are made of bricks or stones.
The stone houses have flat roofs and many windows with a compound like a castle with defensive purposes. They are cool in summer and warm in winter. The first floor is often used to store livestock and fodder; second floor for human living.
The Muya Tibetan stone houses have flat roofs and many windows
Some local Tibetan villagers live in a clustered community on the hillside.
Some local Tibetan villagers live in a clustered community on the hillside.
Rural Tibetans usually live in hillside houses facing the sun and not far from brooks. The golden poplar trees, limpid stream, Tibetan village and the undulating mountains, a typical bucolic landscape.
A bucolic landscape
A piece of peaceful land like an earthly paradise
A local Muya Tibetan is working on her pastoral fields. Yaks, horses, sheep are grazing in the tall grasses in the golden meadow.
A local Muya Tibetan is working on her pastoral fields
Moving on and we see a larger Muya community skirting on the hillside surrounded by an expansive meadow. I take a photo of the Muya settlement through roadside fluttering prayer flags.
We see a large Muya community skirting on the hillside surrounded by an expansive meadow.
We are driving through Tagong Town (aka Lhagang ) at 3700m, a booming town developed from a small village due to the influx of more and more tourists.
Tagong Town is well-known for the same name Tagong Monastery and its surrounding Tagong Grassland that offer great views against the sacred Yala Mountain at 5820m.
We are driving through Tagong Town (aka Lhagang ) at 3700m
Very soon the famous Tagong Monastery is in sight. “Tagong” literally means “A place favored by Buddha”. The legend goes that when Princess Wencheng, the Chinese would-be bride of Tibetan king of Songtsen Gampo, was on her way to Lhasa passing by this place, the precious statue of Jowo Sakymuni Buddha on the cart suddenly refused to go further on her caravan and people found the Buddha liked the place.
Later a replica of the original statue was made on the place the Buddha liked and a temple was built around it. The original Buddha is now in Jokhang Temle in Lhasa and the replica in Tagong Temple which is often regarded as “Little Jokhang Temple”.
Very soon the famous Tagong Monastery is in sight
We don’t go inside Tagong Temple, driving a bit further and get off at the parking lot in Tagong Grassaland nearby. The Tagong Grassland is centered on the Muya Golden Pagoda circled by the red wall compound.
The Muya Goden Pagoda (木雅金塔) was built 1997 with the fund donated by a Living Buddha of Zhuqing Monastery, a Nyingmapa or Red Sect temple.
Tagong Monastery Pagoda Forest
A close-up view of the Muya Golden Pagoda with the backdrop of Yala Snow Mountain. It is said that over 100kg pure gold was used to build the pagoda to commemorate the Living Buddha 10th Panchan.
A close-up view of the Muya Golden Pagoda
Numerous white pagodas atop the one section of the compound walls with the backdrop of Yala Mountain.
Numerous white pagodas atop the one section of the compound walls
Behind Tagong Monastery there are three meadow hills that are decorated with colorful prayer flags formed in triangle or quadrangle fluttering in the wind, adding much mystery and grandness to the hills.
three meadow hills that are decorated with colorful prayer flags
Tagong – Bamei (30km) 塔公至八美
Back to our Highlander and leaving Tagong Grassland, we continue our self-drive trip along the Highway S303. At Bamei Town, the Highway S303 divides into two “303” roads – one to the north and the other to the east leading to Danba. At Bamei we choose the east S303 going to Danba.
The view along the 30km road from Tagong to Bamei is a bit dull and monotonous unlike the bucolic countryside from Xinduqiao to Tagong. But we do see the spectacular views of huge mantra painted on the hillslope and colorful prayer flags fluttering in the wind on the mountains.
The spetacular views of colorful prayer flags
The mantra “om mani padme hum”, the most mysterious and yet ubiquitous mantra of Tibet. We often see the mantra painted on pebbles, rocks, stone slabs, doors, walls and even hill slopes!
We drive by a mountain with a huge mantra painted on the slope with colorful prayer flags.
A huge mantra painted on the slope
Now we are at the intersection of Bamei Town – Following our nose is the north direction passing through Bamei Town; turning right (right side) will be on the S303 leading to Danba County.
Bamei is a town under the jurisdiction of Dawu County (道孚县) in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Now we are at the intersection of Bamei Town
On the left side of the intersection is a Sichuan restaurant. If you are going from here to Danba, we suggest you have lunch here because for the next 87km from Bamei to Danba there will be restaurants on the way.
Bamei Town- Danba (87km) 八美至丹巴
We decide to skip the sit-down lunch and continue our journey east along the S313 for Danba. We eat some snacks stored in our vehicle for lunch and agree to have a big dinner this evening when we arrive Danba.
For the 87km overland trip, there are two impressive sights – Huiyuan Monastery in Xie De Town 协德乡 ( formerly the ancient Tai Ning City ) of Dawu County (道孚县) in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and the majestic Yala Snow Mountain at the elevation of 5820m.
Xie De Town
The formerly Tai Ning City ( 泰宁城 ) was established in 1725 during Qing Dynasty ( 1644 – 1911). The well-known general – Nian Genyao led his army stationed in the city for the defense against the aggressive Junggar tribes.
In 1728, Qing government allocated the money to build a temple by the Tai Ning City. The temple was known as Huiyuan Monastery (惠远寺) used to accommodate the 7th Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso in order to keep him from the threat posed by Junggar tribes.
Huiyuan Temple and Xie De Town (Formerly Tai Ning City)
Later on with the building of Huiyuan Temple, Tai Ning City flourished with the influx of religious pilgrims, traders from Sichuan and Shanxi, which also enhaned the culture exchanges.
Khedrup Gyatso, the 11th Dalai Lama of Tibet was born in Xia Village near Tai Ning City in 1892.
A close look at Huiyuan Temple
Yala Mountain at 5820m is located on among the border area of Kangding, Daofu and Danba of Ganzi Zang Autonomous Prefecture.
The summit of Yala Mountain is shrouded with snow all year round. It is a famous holy mountain Kham area. There are ten gullies in Yala Mountain Range.
Yala Mountain
We get to the downtown of Danba at 3:30pm and stay at Danba Xingji Hotel (丹巴兴吉大酒店) by Dadu River.
If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Chengdu and Sichuan guided tours:
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