# Zanda Earth Forest (札达土林)

Ngari, Tibet Autonomous Region · Southwest, China · Guidebook rating: 4/5
Canonical: https://cnatrip.com/en/places/zanda-earth-forest
Language: en

## Key facts

- **Admission:** No entrance ticket, but you must carry a border permit (边防证)
- **Opening hours:** 2026.01.01-2026.12.31 08:00-17:00
- **Time needed:** 1–2 hours
- **Address:** Between the Gangdise Mountains and the Himalayas, Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture
- **Getting there:** Requires self-driving or a chartered vehicle; it is usually passed on the way when travelling to Lhasa by train
- **Good for:** History & Culture, Nature

## About Zanda Earth Forest

Between the Gangdise and Himalayan mountain ranges in Zanda, along the Xiangquan River (Sutlej) valley, stretches the magnificent Zanda Earth Forest, covering 210 square km at an average altitude of 4,000 m. Its ‘trees’ of earth rise and fall dozens of metres high, taking on myriad shapes full of character. Zanda’s sunsets are the most beautiful, and the earth forest bathed in their glow is the most enchanting. The ruins of the Guge Kingdom lie within the Zanda Earth Forest.

## Tips from the guidebook

- Menshi: Most travellers heading to Burang stay in Menshi, where you can enjoy free hot-spring baths. The sacred mountain lies 50 km east of Menshi; pilgrims who enter the mountain can lodge in temples. Those circling the holy lake can also find lodging in the temples around it.

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Source: China Self-Guided Travel 2025 (《中国自助游》, Tianjin Science & Technology Press, Aug 2024), p. 591. Prices, hours and transport details are as printed in the August 2024 edition and may have changed. Always confirm with the venue before you travel.
Site: China Trip (https://cnatrip.com) — independent China travel guide in 13 languages.