Gannan travel guide

Only long-distance buses serve the area. Hezuo has the largest bus station in the autonomous prefecture. The road from Hezuo to Xiahe is in good condition, but the route from Hezuo through Langmusi, at Gansu's southern tip, to Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan is comparatively rougher.

Labrang Monastery (拉卜楞寺)

Buses run between the various towns and counties, with a flat fare of ¥1. Minibuses shuttle between the bus stations and the monastery areas (1–2 km), at ¥1–2 per person.

Long-distance buses in Gannan are not always punctual, so it's best to buy tickets a day in advance. Journeys are long, and road and vehicle conditions can be unpredictable, so be prepared. Set off early, ideally before 7 a.m.

Gannan also has many Sichuan restaurants, usually run by Han Chinese, with fairly reasonable prices. In addition, good Western food can be found in places such as Langmusi.

“Hua'er” is a form of antiphonal singing popular in the farming and herding areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia, among the Hui, Tibetan, Salar, Yugur, Dongxiang, Bao'an and other communities. It is also called “Shaonian.” As a region where ethnic minorities live together, Linxia naturally has its Hua'er festivals as one of its distinctive features. Each year, Hua'er festivals spontaneously held by local people draw more than 10,000 participants: at Songming Cliff in Hezheng County on the 27th–29th day of the fourth lunar month, at Bingling Temple in Yongjing on the 4th–5th day of the fifth lunar month, and at Lianhua Mountain in Kangle County on the 3rd–9th day of the sixth lunar month. These are all large-scale folk events.

Although this is a Tibetan autonomous prefecture, the food here is mostly noodles. Apart from dedicated Tibetan restaurants or Tibetan households, it is hard to find authentic Tibetan food. Unlike in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetans here do not drink butter tea or milk tea; instead they drink a sweet tea called sanpaotai (三炮台) or babao tea (八宝茶).

Xiahe has quite a few small guesthouses, especially near the edge of the monastery area. However, the rooms and beds here carry a strong smell of butter. The rooms themselves are quite clean.

Along Renmin East Street, outside Labrang Monastery in Xiahe, there is a row of small shops selling all kinds of Tibetan ornaments and knives, a place no visitor should miss. The goods are similar to those on Barkhor Street in Lhasa, but prices are somewhat higher. You can buy small accessories to take home, which city girls in particular love. However, unless you are very confident in your own judgement, do not buy antiques or other valuable items here, to avoid being cheated.