After about two weeks on the road in central Sichuan, the inevitable finally hit me – a full on case of traveler’s diarrhea. I can’t say we were always careful in what we ate, so the consequences were not surprising. I loaded up on questionable 10 kuai antibiotics (which ended up being very effective, though I wouldn’t recommend taking them for any extended time), and hunkered down in bed (and the bathroom) for two days.

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Fast Facts:

Pinyin: Dānbā | Chinese: 丹巴

Location: Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China

Getting There: Hire a driver or take a bus from Kangding or Chengdu

Where to Stay: Zha Xi Zhuo Kang Backpackers Hostel (扎西桌康); Phone 0836-352-1806.

Attractions: Unique Tibetan villages and towers.

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Due to my intestinal malfunctions, our exploration of Danba was somewhat restricted. I managed to make it out of the hotel for one day, and we still were able to take in a lot of the sights. Surprisingly, I found having diarrhea in rural villages a bit easier than experiencing the equivalent state in the city. When surrounded by roadside patties of all animals sorts, one is much less conscientious of popping a squat so-to-speak whenever one is needed. Whereas, in New York city for example, I’ve found finding an immediately accessible bathroom to be much more challenging.

In any event, I’m quite sure there are many more things we could have found had we had the time. I’d say you could easily spend 3 or 4 days in Danba, exploring the villages and hiking around the surrounding mountains. We also heard that Dangling (党岭) and Maoniugou (牦牛沟) were worthwhile scenic spots, which are close outside of Danba.

Perhaps one of the best views we got was on the way to Danba from Tagong. Our van was weaving in and out of valleys for hours, with one breathtaking view after another. However, after one particular turn we were treated to this view of Yala Snow Mountain (雅拉雪山).

If you Google “Yala Snow Mountain” you can find a bunch of pages suggesting various hiking routes that get you right up to the mountain’s edge. While we didn’t opt to explore those routes, I’m quite sure Yala has some truly beautiful hiking options.

Once in Danba, you’ll find that Danba is basically known for two things: 1) the villages, namely Zhonglu (中路), Jiaju (甲居) and Sopo (梭坡); and 2) the “beauties.”

As for the villages, we visited Zhonglu and Jiaju. Each village has very distinct architecture, and it is definitely worth visiting each one. Had my physical state been better, we would have also gone to Sopo. What’s amazing is that these villages, despite being so close to each other, have such distinct styles. Moreover, our driver was from another village about 30 minutes away, and had explained how his dialect (not accent) of Tibetan was different from for example Zhonglu. That explanation only added to our constant enlightenment on how diverse the Tibetan culture is within itself.

Note on Costs: You can hire a taxi to take you around to all three villages. This should cost you 300 RMB all-in. We tried unsuccessfully to get a lower price. If you only want to go to 1 village, it should be 50 kuai each way or 100 RMB round-trip. Don’t pay more than that. When you see how close the villages are, you’ll probably complain on how expensive it is, but this is a tourist area, so the prices are fairly established. If you want to pay less, sharing a van or taxi is probably your best bet, if you can find some other willing tourists. Also note that each village has an entrance fee of 10-15 RMB.

As for the beauties, the villages are famed for having exceptionally attractive Tibetan women. While this may be true, we didn’t see any. One of the cab drivers explained that the best time to witness these beauties is during the Chinese New Year holiday, because that’s when they all return home. Otherwise at other times, they’ve all left for better opportunities in the cities.

Zhonglu Village – 中路村

Zhonglu is known for its towers and its boxy stone houses. The village is nestled in a mountainside, which is accessible by dirt road. We drove into the village and walked around the alleys and fields. The crops are all planted on terraces carved out of the mountain. Below is typical Zhonglu architecture.

Outside it is very common to see tea kettles with metal reflectors around them. In the midday sun the reflectors focus enough heat on the kettle to get the water boiling.

The decks of the homes are important for drying all manner of things. In Zhonglu, the most typical things we saw drying were corn and smoked meat.

The watchtowers were used by the villages as both defensive structures and for communication purposes. Inside the towers there are peep holes they used to shoot arrows out of. On the roof, there is an area to light a signal fire. Today, these towers offer the best views of the villages and surrounding mountain valleys.

From Zhonglu village, there is an open view of the local holy mountain, Maoerduo (not sure on the Tibetan name, but it sounded like ‘cat ears’ in Mandarin). On the day we visited, locals were quite pleased with the cloud formation around the peak, which looked like a Katas (a Tibetan prayer scarf-like textile) wrapping itself around the peak.

Jiaju (甲居)

The second village we visited was Jiaju. In Jiaju, the homes are almost fortress like. They stand as large square structures, with a different rooftop architecture from the Zhonglu homes. Tucked under a mountain top, the village is spread across a large slope, which eventually ends in the river valley below.

Remarkably, there are still some mountain top villages that are not accessible by road. For instance, although it is difficult to see in the below picture, if you strain your eyes, you can make out a small cluster of homes on the upper middle-right side of the picture (where the grass is slightly lighter under the mountain ridge). It takes an entire day to hike up, and the people who live there frequently make the day long hike to bring up supplies.

Where to Stay

We stayed in the Zha Xi Zhuo Kang Backpackers Hostel (扎西桌康), which was great (by backpacker standards). The room was very simple, but clean enough. And they have 24 hour hot water. The staff was very helpful, and were especially kind and concerned when they heard I was ill. The hostel is of course catered to backpackers, and they were helpful in explaining all the different things we could do in the area. We didn’t see many other backpacker-geared hotels in the area, so if in doubt, the Zha Xi is a safe bet.

Finding Danba on a Map