Yaoji Township (硗碛）is a small village in Baoxing County, Ya'an, with an average elevation of 2500m, an area of 880 square kilometers, and with a population of only 5000 people. The current village of Yaoji is nestled in a couloir, carved out by a glacier many eions ago. The village was formerly located in the valley below, but was flooded by a hydroelectric project and reservoir in 2003. only 150km from Sichuan basins, Yaoji is one of Sichuan's "gateway" to the Tibetan plateau. Given its close proximity to Ya'an and Chengdu, the culture of Yaoji shows strong influences from Han culture and lifestyles. historically Yaoji was an important gathering oint for Jiarong speaking Tibetan peoples, and a trading center between Tibetan and Han ethnicities. It was the seat of the Muping tuisi( 土司） or ethnic Tibetan hereditary headman recognized by the Qing and later Nationalist governments.

Furthermore, the village is near the site of the Long March crossing over Jiajin mountain. the Long March ( October 1934-October 1935) was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang( KMY of Chinese Nationalist Party) army. The main long march from Jiangxi province which began in October 1934. The First Front Army of the Chinese Soviet Republic, led by an inexperienced military commission , was on the brink of annihilation by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's troops in their stronghold in Jiangxi province. The Communists, under the eventual command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed over 5,000 kilometers ver 370 days. The route passed through some of the m ost difficult terrain of western China before concluding in Ya'an. where the Communists established a base and began their resurgence.  Jiajin Mountain(5000m +) was the first high mountain crossed by the Red Army, whose soliders were ill prepared for the snow and the cold, and many of whom perished. There is a memorial commemorating their efforts not far from Yaoji, which has become an important destination for modern history buffs and political pilgrims. 

Residents of the village are Gyalrong/Jiarong(嘉绒） Tibetan. in the past, Jiarong was a topographical and political refernce to a far wider area than the present day linguistic demarcation. The legendary 18 kingdoms of the Jiarong extended down as far as the present-day Muya territory. By contemporary linguistic definition, the 150,000 speakers of the different Jiarong languages are distributed across serval counties of central and southern Aba Prefecture, and corners of Ganzi Prefecture and Ya'an District. These Qiangic languages have traditionally been divided into Sibaba(northwestern) , Chabao( northeastern) and Situ( eastern). Situ, referring to an area formerly governed by four kings( Tusi), is the most widely spoken form of Jiarong and has at least two dialects. Outside the larger towns, Jiarong is still widely spoken across all ages and domains of society. Many older Jiarong people are monolingual, but Sichuan dialect is becoming widely spoken by the young and middle aged.

Jiarong tend to be people of the valleys, farming the land in terraced plots up the mountainside, though a few take to the high plateaus where they live semi-nomadic tending their yal. The Jiarong culture: their impressive stone houses decked with praer flags, ancient stone watchtowers, and women clad in colorful hand-woven belts, aprons and headresses. most Jiarong Tibetans worshop mountain gods and practice Tibetan Buddhism, though about 10% follow the pre-Buddhist religion of Bon.

Possible Topics to Explore:

1. Local culture and lifestyle, compared to Han Chinese and otherr Tibetan-subgroups 

2. History of Yaoji, including pre-Communist history. and any knowledge 

3. Changes in the village, way of life, and residents' attitudes over time

4. How China's economic boom has affected Yaoji

do you want to see how tea grow ? 

on the way from Chengdu to Leshan highway, there is  a service station called Tenfu tea service station. where you go up to the hills , you will see the tea plantation . 

there are two seasons usually for tea harvest every year in this area: spring and autumn . 

in spring, you can come here for the tea harvest (or tea picking ) experence . they will provide you cute basket which you will put the tea bud into it . 

This superb adventure in remote China combines the experience of real Tibetan culture with a spectacular trek through the beautiful valleys of Riwoche and Moxi to the Monastery below the ice-fluted shark's fin of Minya Konka (7556m), the world's third highest peak outside the Himalaya. Situated on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, Minya Konka is also one of the most sacred mountains to Tibetan Buddhists, equal in status to Mount Kailas in Western Tibet. Impressive mountain panoramas and austere glaciers, babbling brooks and river torrents, azure blue lakes, enchanting mixed woodland, grazing yaks and their nomadic herders, chortens, mani walls, prayer flags and elaborately decorated Gompas can all be found here.

Our week long trek begins just south of Kangding. the 'Gateway to Tibet'. We make a steady ascent of the Riwoche valley with its soaring cliffs and fast river torrents. At the head of this valley we enter a high grazing area where we will encounter the temporary settlements of the nomadic yak herders. Climbing to cross the 4900 metre Bhuchu La, we then descend the beautiful Moxi valley eventually entering forests of rhododendron, juniper, birch and oak which in October become a riot of Autumnal colours. We stay overnight in the Konka monastery and the climax of our trek is the climb to the ridge above for unrivalled views of Minya Konka and the Daxue range of 6000-metre snowy peaks. Although Minya Konka is the undoubted centre-piece of this great trekking holiday to a little visited mountain region of Sichuan, there is much more to the holiday than this, admittedly, superbly photogenic mountain.

If you want to see real Tibetan culture, this is where you should come. This holiday will give you an insight into the rural life of the Kham region and also of the Minyak people who are an ethnic group distinct again from their Khampa neighbours. Combined with a fascinating journey through Sichuan province, with its many spectacular monasteries, gigantic 'hill paintings' and the great Mani Pile of Tagong, and sightseeing in the city of Chengdu, including the Pandas at the world famous breeding centre. This is a world class trekking holiday and also a real adventure and travel experience in an area visited by very few Westerners.

Ganbao Tibetan Village is a representative village of Tibetan style.Ganbao means"villages on the hills"in Tibetan language.This village is the largest and best preserved Tibetan Villages in Sichuan Province.The entire village is built on the mountainside,house by house.The architecture is unique,simple and natural.

The history of this village dates back to 2500 years ago.In the earthquake in 2008,Ganbao Village was partially destroyed,but with the financial help by both the local and central government,it was rebuilt and the Tibetan culture was restored.Nowadays,the village is attractive to tourists with its unique dance,songs,dresses,customs as well as its religious,stone and farming cultures.

Shangli Ancient Town is located near the border of four counties: Mingshan, Qionglai, Lushan, Ya'an. Shangli is an important stopover of Southern Silk Road. The so-called Southern Silk Road, is China's oldest international channels, as early as two thousand years ago, the Western Han Dynasty had already appeared. It started from Sichuan ,then to Yunnan Zhaotong, Qujing, Dali, Baoshan, Tengchong, exit from Devon into Burma, Thailand, and finally arrived in India and the Middle East.the total length is 200 km, and same famous as the Northwest "Silk Road", as "Southern Silk Road" to world civilization has also made a great contribution

People in Shangli
In the town there are 5 families of ancient settlements, commonly known as the "five families", that is: Han, Yang, Chen, Zhang, Xu Wuda family cluster. About five family legend is: each has its own merits. Han Jia silver (business more money), Yang (the top officials aristocratic family), Chen Jia millet (large grain), Zhang sticks (Department of orthopedics, Xu Jia (martial arts) woman beautiful, hard-working)
there are many interesting stories of the five families.

Architectural pattern

The ancient town construction pattern with spatial characteristics to residential based, architectural style is still dominated by the Ming and Qing dynasties. The town streets were "井" layout, and are not wide, on both sides is full of old pavement. The town to the wooden structure as the main building, apartment "well water, water and fire", the fire water system for sin, for the town of peace.

if you don't want to see things so "toursist", Shangli is a good place to go. about half an hour drive from Ya'an Bifengxia Panda Base. 

This superb adventure in remote China combines the experience of real Tibetan culture with a spectacular trek through the beautiful valleys of Riwoche and Moxi to the Monastery below the ice-fluted shark's fin of Minya Konka (7556m), the world's third highest peak outside the Himalaya. Situated on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, Minya Konka is also one of the most sacred mountains to Tibetan Buddhists, equal in status to Mount Kailas in Western Tibet. Impressive mountain panoramas and austere glaciers, babbling brooks and river torrents, azure blue lakes, enchanting mixed woodland, grazing yaks and their nomadic herders, chortens, mani walls, prayer flags and elaborately decorated Gompas can all be found here.

Our week long trek begins just south of Kangding. the 'Gateway to Tibet'. We make a steady ascent of the Riwoche valley with its soaring cliffs and fast river torrents. At the head of this valley we enter a high grazing area where we will encounter the temporary settlements of the nomadic yak herders. Climbing to cross the 4900 metre Bhuchu La, we then descend the beautiful Moxi valley eventually entering forests of rhododendron, juniper, birch and oak which in October become a riot of Autumnal colours. We stay overnight in the Konka monastery and the climax of our trek is the climb to the ridge above for unrivalled views of Minya Konka and the Daxue range of 6000-metre snowy peaks. Although Minya Konka is the undoubted centre-piece of this great trekking holiday to a little visited mountain region of Sichuan, there is much more to the holiday than this, admittedly, superbly photogenic mountain.

If you want to see real Tibetan culture, this is where you should come. This holiday will give you an insight into the rural life of the Kham region and also of the Minyak people who are an ethnic group distinct again from their Khampa neighbours. Combined with a fascinating journey through Sichuan province, with its many spectacular monasteries, gigantic 'hill paintings' and the great Mani Pile of Tagong, and sightseeing in the city of Chengdu, including the Pandas at the world famous breeding centre. This is a world class trekking holiday and also a real adventure and travel experience in an area visited by very few Westerners.

This superb adventure in remote China combines the experience of real Tibetan culture with a spectacular trek through the beautiful valleys of Riwoche and Moxi to the Monastery below the ice-fluted shark's fin of Minya Konka (7556m), the world's third highest peak outside the Himalaya. Situated on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, Minya Konka is also one of the most sacred mountains to Tibetan Buddhists, equal in status to Mount Kailas in Western Tibet. Impressive mountain panoramas and austere glaciers, babbling brooks and river torrents, azure blue lakes, enchanting mixed woodland, grazing yaks and their nomadic herders, chortens, mani walls, prayer flags and elaborately decorated Gompas can all be found here.

Our week long trek begins just south of Kangding. the 'Gateway to Tibet'. We make a steady ascent of the Riwoche valley with its soaring cliffs and fast river torrents. At the head of this valley we enter a high grazing area where we will encounter the temporary settlements of the nomadic yak herders. Climbing to cross the 4900 metre Bhuchu La, we then descend the beautiful Moxi valley eventually entering forests of rhododendron, juniper, birch and oak which in October become a riot of Autumnal colours. We stay overnight in the Konka monastery and the climax of our trek is the climb to the ridge above for unrivalled views of Minya Konka and the Daxue range of 6000-metre snowy peaks. Although Minya Konka is the undoubted centre-piece of this great trekking holiday to a little visited mountain region of Sichuan, there is much more to the holiday than this, admittedly, superbly photogenic mountain.

If you want to see real Tibetan culture, this is where you should come. This holiday will give you an insight into the rural life of the Kham region and also of the Minyak people who are an ethnic group distinct again from their Khampa neighbours. Combined with a fascinating journey through Sichuan province, with its many spectacular monasteries, gigantic 'hill paintings' and the great Mani Pile of Tagong, and sightseeing in the city of Chengdu, including the Pandas at the world famous breeding centre. This is a world class trekking holiday and also a real adventure and travel experience in an area visited by very few Westerners.