Why go
Yading's three peaks are worshipped as the three bodhisattvas — Xiannairi, Yangmaiyong and Xianuoduoji — and the valleys below them run with streams, prayer flags and the occasional monastery. The famous lakes sit at the end of a long, high hike: Milk Lake's pale turquoise, then Five-Color Lake at its edge.
It is a high-altitude, slow-motion landscape — you walk metres, stop, breathe, walk. The light moves across the peaks all day, and the late-autumn gold of the valleys is the season people plan around.
- The three sacred peaks seen from the Chonggu Monastery trailhead
- Milk Lake (牛奶海) at ~4,600 m
- Five-Color Lake (五色海) just above it
- The forested valleys and prayer-flag passes on the drive in
Practical tips
Acclimatise: sleep low in Daocheng town (3,700 m) before attempting the lakes at 4,600 m. The Chonggu–Milk Lake hike is ~5h round-trip with serious altitude — horses run part of the route but book out by 9:00. Carry oxygen cans and warm layers; afternoon wind arrives daily.
Nearby
The route in from Chengdu passes Kangding, the Litang plains and the prayer-flag passes of the Tibetan borderlands — a loop that is a trip in itself. Ganzi prefecture's monasteries and grasslands extend it indefinitely.
Getting there
- Fly to Daocheng Yading airport, or drive from Chengdu via Kangding (2 days)
- Altitude
- Valleys 3,700–4,600 m
- Peaks
- Xiannairi 6,032 m · Yangmaiyong 5,958 m
- Best season
- Sep–Nov golden autumn
