巴拉格宗大峡谷 Balagezong: The Grand Canyon of Shangri-La

Having reached the end of our trip at Shangri-La with just one day left to spare, where next should I explore?

Dukezhong? Done. Songzanlin? Been there.

I have pretty much ticked most of the attractions within Shangri-La, which leaves me with day-tripping beyond the city!

There are three possible day trips to check out beyond Shangri-La: Beautiful Napa Grasslands for bird watching, Potatso Park for some forest – or shrub – bathing, and Balagezong Grand Canyon to enjoy the Tibetan culture and views of the canyon.

My initial plan to visit Potatso had to be put on hold as April was not the best season to visit the park. Instead of glistening lakes and endless grasslands, I would be looking at muddy terrain and Teh-C lakes. The same goes for the Napa Grasslands. That leaves me with Balagezong. No need for a SWOT analysis test.

The official webpage of Balagezong here – check out their photos!

Transport to Balagezong

Getting to Balagezong is straightforward.

You could join a tour and get on the bus at the bus station behind the East Gate (东门) of Dukezhong, or find a group of friends and hire a taxi.

My friend and I secured our seats for the tour from our hostel the day before. We paid the operator that day in cash. The transport and guided tour cost us 220 RMB.

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The Journey

The journey from Shangri-La to the canyon took almost three hours.

One word about joining tours: some tour agencies are strict about punctuality. Ours were not, and we had to wait for a while – 30 mins to be precise – before the bus finally left. Be prepared for the Asian-sized seats.

A TV at the front of the tour bus played videos about the canyon throughout the journey. I recalled watching a couple of music videos of Tibetan sopranos, and a documentary on the person who paved the road to Balagezong.

The last hour of the journey was on bendy roads within the deep valley of Balagezong. The valley of Balagezong is unlike other valleys that appear as a ‘V’ from its cross-section. This canyon has a ‘U’ with steep rock sides.

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Man behind Balagezong

The history behind the ‘discovery’ of Balagezong is a must-know (article in Chinese no longer available, my rough translation as follows) to fully appreciate the challenges in paving the roads within the topographically challenging terrain.

Balagezong has a village, Bala Village 巴拉村, that was once secluded from the outside world. To get to Shangri-La, villagers had to walk for five days. The journey out was difficult, and many who required urgent medical help in Shangri-La perished along the way. Bala village was also poor and without electricity. Food was sometimes scarce as well.

A young village boy grew up in the village and only started wearing shoes at 10. He left school early to work as a blacksmith apprentice to support his family.

One day, while welding the molten metal, a small piece of wet metal hit his left eye. His father took him out to Shangri-La for medical treatment. That was his first time out of the village. Sadly, the doctor proclaimed that his eye had no hope of recovering, having been injured and left untreated for the last five days.

However, that episode left a deep imprint on the boy. It was his first time seeing shops, electric light bulbs and cars. He vowed to build a road to his village one day and lift his village from poverty.

That journey to reach his goal took him almost three decades. He left the village as a young man to start his entrepreneurial career. His village did not condone his behaviour. He was an outcast. It took him two decades to build his business in many parts of China. The man was rich and could have retired with a comfortable life. But he chose to fulfil his life goal.

He faced many rejections. Experts warn about the impossibility of building roads on the challenging topography. None of his village men wanted to support him. Even his dad thought him mad. But the man persevered, despite being spit at, was bankrupted a handful of times, and resorted to selling his heirlooms to build the road.

After a decade of hard work, the road was finally completed. But his dad never saw the completion, and it remained his only regret. The bendy mountain road stretches almost 60 km long. In 2008, Bala village finally welcomed motor cars, electricity and communication signals.

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Within the Canyon

The bus dropped us in the carpark of the canyon, and we were each given a lanyard attached to a tourist card.

We transferred from one bus to another after getting our tickets checked. The second bus is the scenic bus that brings tourists around the canyon. There is a toilet – the cleanest of all public toilets I have been to in my whole Shangri-La trip – by the carpark.

Thousand-year-old Bodhi Tree (千年菩提树)

Our first attraction was a huge tree clinging to the side of the mountain. Several tourists were visibly excited to see this Bodhi tree. The little tree hand within the bulk of vegetation stole the limelight.

Stupas and a Cultural Centre (巴拉达拥佛塔以及藏文化博览中心)

After the tree, our bus meandered over many hairpin twists before reaching the rows of white stupas and a functioning temple that doubled as a cultural centre.

We toured around the centre with beautiful umbrella flags and many serious-faced statues. Photography was not allowed in this temple.

Bala Village (巴拉村)

Our lunch stop was in the ‘village’.

There are two restaurants, Chinese and Tibetan, but we chose to picnic by a bench under a shaded area and explore a vantage point within the village.

According to the guide, villagers who used to live there had moved to the lower parts of the canyon. All that remained were hotels and expensive restaurants.

Echo Valley (回音壁)

Post-lunch, our journey continued into the echo valley – an 1106 m walk on a boardwalk welded to the side of the mountain.

At the end of the walk was a balcony made entirely of glass. We rented a pair of shoe covers at 1 RMB each to walk on the glass floor. On the way back, you could choose to walk or whiz through the valley via flying fox at about 90 RMB each.

Grand Canyon (香格里拉大峡谷)

Another long walk on a boardwalk – 2500 m – from the start to the end.

The turquoise blue waters bubbled on our right as we strolled. At the end of the trail was a staircase that led us down to the river with water so clear we could see the fish swimming underneath. You could choose to walk back or pay to ride a boat.

Shambala Buddha Tower (香巴拉佛塔)

We did not visit the mythical Buddha tower with its iconic pyramid-shaped mountain at 4050 m as this would have cost another 90 RMB and time. Those who chose to visit the tower would have to forgo one or two other attractions.

We left Balagezong for Shangri-La at 5.30 PM and were back in the city for a late – and our last – yak hotpot dinner.

And there goes my last day in Shangri-La. Not too bad as a 观光客 visiting touristy places. And if you are thinking of extending your travel in Yunnan, check out this post for a reasonable 12-day itinerary around the province covering Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La.