Gonggashan Accommodation and Food

Accommodations in Kangding

Plenty of good hotels are available in Kangding. Above all Kangding is the biggest town of Garze Tibetan Prefecture. It has hotels of 4 stars and 3 stars. There are also plenty of local Tibetan guesthouses, clean and cost-effective. Traveling during the Chinese holidays including first week of May, first week of October, summer school vacations July and August may encounter with booked out rooms at the hotels. Kangding is not a very touristy place though. It is the economy and business center of western Sichuan, there are a lot of people traveling here all year round.

Accommodations in Hailuogou (Moxi Town)

There 3 to 4 star hotels will have decent rooms with air-con and proper shower facility and even western toilet. Rooms in a local guesthouse are more basic but clean and have attached bathroom usually with squat toilet but with hot shower. Hailuogou is normally referred to as the town Moxi. It is a small tourist town by the entrance of Hailuogou Glacier Park. To plan ahead if you are traveling during peak seasons.

Accommodations for a Hiking Trip

The usual hiking terminals include Laoyulin of northern Kangding, Shangmuju of western face of Gonggashan, Tsemed Village (Zimei Village), Caoke at the south of Gonggashan and Gongga Gompa.

At Laoyulin and Shangmuju, there are basic Tibetan guesthouses you can use, some of them with private bathrooms but very basic. Although the guesthouses are clean and more local people are into this business now. Caoke is actually a small village where you can find something like a 1 or 2-star hotel with decent rooms. Tsemed Village is just a three-family complex where you can find shelter. At Gongga Gompa (Gongga Monastery), there are bunks for hikers and visiting monks you can use, 20 yuan per person.

There are no huts available for a Gonggashan Hiking. During summer time you may find nomads tents and huts but you are not recommended to use them without permissions. Some of the deserted huts that you can use are usually not very good huts. You are recommended to bring your tents with you for such hiking.

Food and Restaurants

Local restaurants are plenty in Kangding and Moxi. Plenty of them are Sichuan style with different stir-fries though you can also find some Tibetan restaurants. Some may think some of the restaurants may not be hygienic from their appearance so you choose the ones that look clean. While you are doing a hiking in Gonggashan, there are food stalls at all. Local people eat Tibetan food. If you get a chance to visit a Tibetan family here, try the local Zamba or Yak Butter Tea.

Drinking Water

The same as anywhere else in China, water from the tap is not drinkable. Always use bottled water or boiled water from your hotel or restaurants. Most of the hotel rooms have a water heating bottle for the guests to cook water. Whilst on hiking, do not drink the water directly from the river or stream or ice. It can give you diarrhea. There are lots of wild animals living in the forest and we don’t know what is in the water. You are suggested to always boil your water before you drink in the valleys.