taking the kids out

This autumn we had the chance to take our kids into the mountains to do some camping and exploring near the Wolong Panda Nature reserve.

They really had a lot of fun near the stream:

5000m in 7 Days --- The Rewuqie Pasture

This 5 day trekking tour (7days from Chengdu) included a nice ascent of a 5000m peak in the northern Minya Konka Range. The only thing we had to pay attention to were acclimatisation issues.

Here is the first glimpse towards Minya Konka for me since quite a while. One week before getting to the high mountains I have been on Mt. Emei. On its top you usually can view this great mountain range in the far west.

Taktsang Lhamo and its Vultures - August 2011

This year in August I had the great opportunity to explore the area around Taktsang Lhamo (chin. Langmu Si) in order to look out for Griffon Vultures.

The area mostly consists of rolling hills with a lot of pasture land around. Only a small area of rocks behind the monastery features a different landscape.
These cliffs are home of more than 100 individuals of vultures, including Himalayan Griffon, Lammergeier and Cinereous Vulture.

Travel to Qinghai

This post shall publish a selection of pictures from a 23day round trip from Chengdu to Qinghai and Gansu in June 2011. 

Our trip started on the famous Sichuan Tibet Highway - the G318. After a dangerous 8h ride (the Ya'an - Kangding always is dangerous) we were rewarded with a stunning view towards the Lamoshe Massif from the first high pass behind Kangding.

The G318 splits in Xinduqiao. The northern route - from now on called G317 - passes the sacred Lake Yilhun Lhamtso.

BEST OF 2010

Thought I should compile some of my most favourite pictures of last year - of those which anytime make myself dreaming of the freedom underneath the endless Tibetan Sky.

This is the Lhamo She Group (chin. She Haizi Shan, 6070m), a northern split of the Minya Konka Range.

My favourite view towards the high rugged mountain range near Ganze.

On the left of the picture you can see a very remote lamasery: Zhankar Gompa lies at 4050m on the Tagong Grassland.

Also on the Tagong Grassland I took this picture of a Gentian. These flowers can be found in any colour between white and dark blue here at 4100m above sea level.

Mid Autumn Moon

This skull is burried in a high-altitude marsh. Tibetans do not mind dead animals lying around: death belongs to life, and symbols of death (like this skull) shall remind you to never forget this truth.

Tagong Marshland with the peak of Mt. Zhara Lhaste in the back

Close to the western glacier of Minya Konka. A glacier that reaches from 7556m down to 3800m...

Two yak bulls fighting out a disagreement.

This is a Choerten which was build long before the convenience of concrete conquered the Tibetan High Plateau.

Chipmunks belong to the most common wildlife here in the high alpine forests.

Our pack horses - endless miles underneath an endless sky....

This picture is a nice reward for a long climb up to a 5000m ridge from where these Snow Partridges were observing us.

Introduction of Ganze

This image resembles the typical scenery of Ganze County: juicy grassland foiled against steep and rocky mountains up to 5992m.

With 5992m Mt. Kawaluori is the highest peak around Ganze. It also is the most eastern peak of the Mt. Chola Mountain Range, a thin mountain range that stretches for more than 200km from the Sichuan/TAR border to Luhuo County.

Mt. Chola - Trekking in Dege 2009

Mt. Chola is the heart of this marvelous trekking tour. By the way: There is a funny story about this name: Chola (speak juola, letter "j" as in jungle) is just another name for snow mountain, given by local Tibetans. The Chinese phonetic transliteration for CHOLA uses two characters: Que Er, and written so on offical maps. Hence, many foreign guide books use the literal translation of the Chinese Characters: Sparrow. So, mistakenly CHOLA became "Bird Mountain"...
Much better than the story about the name is the panorama view of the Chola Massif photographed from the south:

(click the image to enlarge)

typical view of pastures and rolling hills of the Dege area.

Tagong March 2010

This trip was just a quick survey for trekking tours in this area, and end of March is a pretty cold month especially at night. However, it was a brilliant and successful 3day hike to a series of lakes and remote monasteries.

Here is a panorama from the area. This photograph was taken from a pass of the G318 National Road towards Litang.

The first moments of the hike part began with a stunning view on Mt. Zhara Lhatse (5820m) - a mountain I was talking about in an earlier post.

Winter in Lhasa

This winter (January 2010) I did my first trip to Tibet proper. Though intensive traveling through Amdo and Kham, this was a completely new experience, not only because of the required Tibet entry permit and the related hassle.

Temple building at Dengsatil Gompa

Birds in Lhasa, Winter 2010

The Lhasa River and the Yarlung Tsangpo host thousands of ducks in winter. Most common were

Bar-headed Geese and...

Winter habitat of Black-necked Crane

In the beginning of December 2009 I was with Meggie and Sid on a birding trip to the North of Yunnan Province. Our aim was a high altitude wetland where a big part of the Black-necked Crane population is spending winter.

On the way off Chengdu we found this pair of Common Kingfishers, obviously having a quarrel...

Two Solar Eclipses in Sichuan

Since the Chinese government closed down blogspot.com, it is hard for me to post any new reports and pictures on my Blog. Abroad it is much easier to find a way to get around this censorship and eventually I am able to begin to work my journeys all up.

In 22.July 2009 and 15.January 2010 there were two nice solar eclipses over Sichuan which I could manage to observe with my own eyes. The first was on Tsemet Pass (4550m) with the marvellous west face of Minya Konka (7556m) in the front.

waiting for the great moment

Mt. Zhara Lhatse

This post shall give a short introduction of one of the most sovereign mountains of the area between Gyarong and Kham: Mt. Zhara Lhatse (5820m)
(in Chinese: Yala Shenshan)

He pops out behind the rolling hills of the Tagong Grassland and the eastern part of the Tibetan High Plateau. But actually he still belongs to

BIRD WATCHING in SICHUAN

Birding trip in Sichuan, May 18th - June 14th 2009


This trip was an extensive birding experience through the main bird habitats of Sichuan. Although May and June usually are the best months to go bird watching in Sichuan - in terms of birds and weather, this year we had to fight with really untypical weather for this season:

Minya Konka (chin. Gongga Shan) and the Konka Gompa

Minya Konka is Tibetan and means “Snow Mountain of the Minyak Region”. He is the sacred mountain of Minyak which, in ancient times, was a huge and powerful kingdom.



The Minya Konka Range is a division line between the hilly grassland of the Tibetan High Plateau and

Pilgrimage around the holy Mt. Kawa Karpo / Meili Xueshan Massif — January 2009

For years it has been my dream to hike around the impressive mountain range of Kawa Karpo — one of the holiest mountains in Tibetan Buddhism. Its main peak is the Mt. Kagebo with a height of 6740m. Due to religious reasons as well as varialble climate in this area all of the five summits are as yet unclimbed.



The mountain range is placed in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Park of the “Three Parallel Rivers”. Those are

Autumn at Mt. Genyen – a trip you will never forget

The summer is too rainy and the sight is not often clear, and the winter is much too cold. Thus, the best seasons for travelling are spring and autumn. Spring is the season when all gets green and the birds are lively: ideal for bird watching. And Autumn features

Two Days in November in a side valley of Minya Konka: Towards the foot of Mt. Edgar

Big Boulder

It has been the fourth time that I climbed around a huge boulder which blocks the marvelous valley that leads to the foot of Mt. Edgar (6618m). However, it was the first time with no rain but with blue sky. Though the time for the previous trips were all chosen out of the rainy season, I have had bad luck always. This time

This Image Of The Brown Parrotbill Was Donated By A Fine Supporter