Daocheng Yading Nature Reserve

Yading National Nature Reserve; UNESCO Man And The Biosphere Reserve; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Daocheng, Sichuan

Often called the last Shangri-La: a high Tibetan nature reserve in western Sichuan where three sacred snow peaks - Chenrezig (about 6,032 m), Jambeyang and Chana Dorje, named for three bodhisattvas - rise above glacial valleys, larch forests, alpine meadows and turquoise lakes. For centuries Tibetan pilgrims have walked koras around the peaks, and the explorer Joseph Rock's 1920s photographs of the area for National Geographic are often linked to the legend of Shangri-La. From the old Chonggu Temple, boardwalks lead to Pearl Lake beneath Chenrezig and to the broad Luorong Pasture, where streams wind across meadows under Jambeyang's glacier. The hardest and most rewarding trail climbs above 4,500 metres to the Milk Lake and Five-Colour Lake at the foot of the peaks. Beyond the reserve, the high plateau around Daocheng town turns spectacular in autumn, with golden poplar forests and the red grasslands of Sangdui. The reserve is reached from Yading Airport, one of the highest in the world, or on long mountain roads from Chengdu.

Yading Nature Reserve, Shangri-La Town (Riwa), Daocheng County, Garze Prefecture, Daocheng, Sichuan, China

Reserve open daily, roughly 7:00-17:00 for entry, with buses returning in the late afternoon. Milk Lake and Five-Colour Lake trail closed in winter (November 24, 2025-April 15, 2026); short routes open year-round.

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