Deqin Travel Guide

Deqin is a town located in the Hengduanshan Mountains in Yunnan province. Most of its 55,000 inhabitants are Tibetan. If you can deal with the altitude (3550m) it makes a great place to hike from, and if you can't then just hanging out in town is also very rewarding; a small piece of Tibet, accessible without expensive permits. Deqin prefecture is where the big mountains are to be found with impossibly steep valleys, mind-blowing vistas, remote monasteries and class A trekking, for all levels, available all year round. Yes, all year round! In fact the best time to trek is during the winter months. It's apparent remoteness and obscurity shouldn't deter you and the area is "must do" place. Here are ten good reasons to visit Deqin.

1. Meili Snow Mountain & Mt. Miancimu
2. Trek up to the Mingyong Glacier
3. Trekking to Yubeng
4. Trekking along the Mekong River
5. Tashi's Mountain Lodge, Reringkha village
6. To organize a road trip to Lhasa
7. The spectacular drive up from Shangri-La
8. Deqin's Tibetan Disco
9. Sleeping in remote Tibetan villages
10. Special ginger, lemon tea

Major Attractions

Meili Snow Mountain

Meili Snow Mountain is located at the junction of the Jinsha, Lancang and Nu rivers. Famous for its lofty and mysterious magnificence, Tibetans regard it as sacred and each year in autumn Tibetan pilgrims come from near and far to soak up the spiritual aura of the Mountain.

Tibetans believe that Mount Meili represents the mind emanation of the Lord Buddha, whereas Mount Khailash in Western Tibet represents the body and Ne Tsari in Central Tibet represents the speech. So, every fall countless pilgrims come from all over Tibet, Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu to circumambulate the mountain, imbibe its spiritual aura and pay homage to the mountain god for a period of no less than seven days.

However, Mount Meili's fame lies not only in its religious significance. At 6,740 meters above sea level, it is the tallest mountain in the entire Yunnan province and has never been scaled. It's one of those rarities in today's global village, a virgin peak.

Feilai Si

It was built in Ming Dynasty. Only 10km away from Deqin to Felai Si and you get an amazing view of Meili Snow mountain worth seeing at sunrise.

There's a place to stay here, which many people do in order to try and wake up and catch the sunrise hitting the Meili Snow Mountain range and before the clouds roll in.

Yubeng village

Yubeng village is not accessible by any vehicles, only horse riding can go there. It's really a beautiful and mysterious place. Situated at the back of Meili Snow Mountains, it is surrounded by mountains. Due to its unique location, there are only 20 households living there and nearly no connection with outside world except a small path.

Yubeng village is devided into two parts, the upper village and lower village. From Upper village, travelers can get to the base camp of the Joint Sino-Japanese of KawaKarpo range. While the lower village can get to Yubeng Waterfall, it represents the compassionate tears of Buddha.

Mingyong Glacier

At the foot of Kagebo Peak lies the Mingyong Glacier, a rare monsoon maritime glacier that stretches from an altitude of 5,500 meters above sea level to 2,700 meters and stops only 800 meters from the surface of the Langcang River. A glacier of this size is rarely seen at such low altitude and latitude.

How to Get in?

By cAR

Road transportation is the most important way for coming to this region. There are several buses from Zhongdian. The journey takes 5 hours and through the spectacular mountain scenery. There is also bus from Deqin to Lhasa. This ride take about 3-4 days. This trip is also risky due to the high altitude.

Best Time to Come

Usually, travellers would like to come in Summer because of the pleasant weather. In fact, winter is also a good time for avoiding tourists.