The best tourist village in the world? It’s here: Zhagana!

Onward on our journey through inner China, we left Sichuan and briefly entered Gansu Province to marvel at the mountain village of Zhagana (扎尕那 – pronounced Chagana). It’s a village surrounded by breathtaking landscapes: nestled deep in the mountains at an altitude of over 3000 meters, its name translates from the Tibetan for “Stone Box”, which fits perfectly:

Rumor has it that the village was one of those awarded the title of Best Tourist Village by the United Nations World Tourism Organization in 2023. (Who knew the UN had awards like that? Not me!)

Once again, there’s no need for too many words when the photos speak for themselves ->

This mountain paradise is located here on the map, and the road to these mountainous landscapes winds charmingly up a beautiful valley:

If ever you come here, dear readers, be sure to bring a drone with you. There are no restrictions on them, and without aerial photography it’s impossible to grasp the scale.

But there are restrictions on… humans. Well – sort of: you can’t just enter the village willy-nilly – you need to purchase a ticket (or be a local resident) ->

The road to the village is both picturesque and well-maintained:

We arrive…

The views were such that, despite the skies being overcast, everyone rushed off the bus right away, and the adventure began:

There are plenty of places to explore: the village itself, the other side of the valley, and/or the mountain gorges. And for those who don’t much fancy walking, there are small buses at the ready at each such place – handily painted bright green so you don’t miss them ->

We decided to start with a walk (fancy that?!), climbing to a higher spot to get a better view and figure out where the “wow-factor” would take us next:

Ah, here’s a suitable spot:

Glorious views:

And we had our drone with us:

The road meanders up the steep mountainside:

Looking back down:

Onward – upward!…

I couldn’t figure out where the tourist trails end or how exactly one is supposed to navigate them. This sign shows both a horse and some intimidating distances. Still, one thing’s for sure: there’s plenty to explore…

It turns out that using a phone while driving (a horse-drawn cart) isn’t penalized here. Guess that’s ok though – horses aren’t foolish: if they encounter another horse coming in the opposite direction they’ll manage to pass each other – texting rider or no ) ->

I wonder where they’re heading? The nearest villages are tens of kilometers away through the mountains. Meanwhile, we’re enjoying our fantastic walk! Up and up the gorge we go…

Here comes one of the bright green buses with the more sedentary tourists ->

The surrounding landscapes are luxurious – featuring colorful mountains:

We walked about two kilometers up the gorge before the comfortable road came to an end:

We could have kept walking endlessly but we had other plans for the day so decided to take the bus back down again ->

An excellent walk! If you’re planning a visit, allocate at least a full day or even two for this area. We also wanted to check out the other side and take a quick look at the community itself:

Judging by the pace of construction, the quality of the buildings and roads, and also the brands of cars, the village seems to be far from poor ->

Viewing platform:

The views are breathtaking!

A Buddhist monastery (sadly, we didn’t have time to visit it) ->

Just below us, monks were having lunch:

The views in every direction: absolutely stunning!

Predatory birds were patrolling the skies… Oh, how wonderful it is here!

But then, suddenly, it started raining – hailstones! And that told us that that was that (four thats in a short sentence – beat… that!): time to be on our way…

Before this trip, I had no idea about this magnificent place. And now I think that, if I get the chance, I’ll visit again one day…

The rest of the photos from our China-2024 trip are here.