Getting to/around Gonggashan

updated on April, 2022

Minya Konka is a mountain massif located in Garze Prefecture of Sichuan Province by the eastern edge of Tibetan Pleteau. It is home to over a dozen of 6000er mountains and the easternmost 7000er on earth. Mt. Gongga or Mt. is the highest peak of Sichuan province. Minya Konka may be one of the mountain places where access to its many mountains are fairly easy. The direct distance from Chengdu, a major big city in China where you can fly to from many other countries, is only at around 200km. From 2018 a new highway was built and made the driving to Kangding, the base of Minya Konka in only 3 hours.

From Chengdu to Gonggashan

Minya Konka is a big place that going to its different parts may require different time. Its north-south distance is over 60km. For example if you wish to go directly the base of Mt. Minya Konka by its southwest you normally go to its south from Shimian County and then go into mountain via Tianwan River, which is the shortest way to get there that normally takes around 7-8 hours by driving from Chengdu. However if you wish to do a classic trek of Minya Konka you go to Kangding in 3 hours and start from there.

By Air

You can also fly to Kangding. There is an airport in Kangding close to Gonggashan. There is one scheduled flight from Chengdu to Gonggashan everyday in the morning.Read Details>>

By Bus

To get to Hailuogou by Minya Konka East

To go to Hailuogou there are two buses depart by 9.30 and 10.00 every morning; ticket costs 220 yuan per person. Both will take about 7 hours. After arrive in Hailuogou, you can go to visit Hailuogou Glacier Park the next morning without further transport.

To get to Kangding by Minya Konka North

To take a bus to Gonggashan, you start from Xinnanmen Bus Station in Chengdu. To go to Kangding from Chengdu there is a bus every hour from 7.00 to 14.00 everyday. Ticket costs around 120 yuan per person. After arrive in Kangding, you normally need to take a taxi or hire a car to go further to Laoyulin or even to the center of Kangding where hotels are located although there are hotels near the Kangding Bus Station as well.

Xinnanmen Bus Station is located at 2 Xinnan Road, Jinjiang District, Chengdu. Telephone: +86 28-85433609. Kangding Bus Station is located at Qingge Ave, Kangding Shi, Ganzi Zangzuzizhizhou, Sichuan Sheng, China. Telephone: +86 836 2822211.

There is also shared taxi from Chengdu to Kangding that may be more convenient when you don’t know the timing of the buses. You can find them at Wuhouci Hengjie. But this is a little tricky as the drivers are not exactly professional drivers but rather running as shared-taxi that are usually not officially listed as “passenger transportation” (In China cars need to be registered as official passenger transportation vehicle in order to take passengers legally but in reality there are a lot of local private cars running as shared taxi to make money for people who want to have more convenient transfer. For example with the private shared taxi sometimes you can have them come to your place to pick you up and even to drop you off to your preferred locations after you arrive. While using bus does not have such convenience.). These private cars need to avoid being stopped by traffic police. Normally if you use a normal sedan car or suv then the chance you are stopped is near to zero. However if your shared taxi is a van or van-like vehicle then the chance you get stopped by traffic police is higher at probably 10-15%. What happens when you are stopped? Nothing will happen to you but the driver will be in trouble and his car will probably be seized by the police and you will probably need to wait or find other solutions to get to your destination.

These private car drivers don’t speak English and they may be making phone calls or even be smoking while driving. Although some drivers are quite professional and safe drivers but you won’t know this until you are in the car. The cost for a shared taxi is around 200 -300 yuan per person.

To get to Kangding by Minya Konka North

To go to the south of Minya Konka one usually goes to Caoke Village in Shimian County from Chengdu by driving that takes around 7 hours. It is total 320km from Chengdu to Caoke. From Caoke it is another 25km to the road head where you start to walk for around 15km to the village of Tsemed by the base of Minya Konka. From Tsemed it is another 7km to Gongga Monastery or you can start a trek up the Moxi valley towards north. By public transportation you first go to Shimian by bus. There are several schedules of buses departing Xinnamen Bus Station and Shiyangchang Bus Station in Chengdu in the morning. It takes about 5-6 hours to get to Shimian, from where there is small van running business to Caoke, where usually you will have one night stay there. Transportation to Caoke from Shimian you can use rent one car with driver or use the shared van that departs Shimian to Caoke on schedules.

To get to Yulongxi by Minya Konka West

It is around 480km to the west of Minya Konka that by driving it takes a full day. Using public transport you need to get to Kangding first and then from there use local bus to Shade and then rent a car from there to get to the west of Minya Konka to Shangmuju or Yulongxi village. Note the west of Minya Konka refers to a large area of places including even Xinduqiao where it is only arund 350km from Chengdu by driving.