Ganzi Prefecture

Garzê is located in western Sichuan Province on the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is populated primarily by Tibetan people. The prefectural seat of Dartsedo (or Kangding) has been an important location for the tea and horse trade between the Han and Tibetan peoples since the Song dynasty (960-1279). The prefecture's Dêgê County is known as one of the three major centers of ancient culture, along with Lhasa, Tibet and Xiahe, Gannan. It is one of the important cradles of Tibetan culture. Garzê has many tourist attractions, including the Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park in Luding County, and Paoma (“Running Horse”) Mountain and Mugecuo Lake in Dartsedo. There is also the famous Luding Chain Bridge, which was designated as an important cultural site for preservation after the Liberation and had a revolutionary relic exhibition hall built to display historical materials related to the fight of the Red Army.