Benzilan Town is a township under jurisdiction of Deqen County, also known as “Pontselang” in Tibetan, meaning “beautiful sand dam”.
Jinsha River above Benzilan town was full of raging waves and rushed turbulently, while the surface of Jinsha river below Benzilan town suddenly opened up and the river level was calm.
Location
Benzilan Town is located in southeast of Deqen County, by Jinsha River at foot of Baima (Padma) Snow Mountain, and connected to Derong County across Jinsha River. N214 Road passes through this town, which is to follow the only way for ancient “Tea Horse Trading Route”
Benzilan is the second largest market outside of Shengping Town of Deqen County. In the past, it was well-known for its capable “Horseman”
Along the part of National Highway 214 that crossing through Benzilan town, restaurants, Tibetan ornaments, and silver ornaments shops line up. This street has become the most prosperous, lively, and busiest area in Benzilan Town. In fact, it takes less than ten minutes to walk from one end of this street to another
Benzilan Ferry is also the “land of throat” where the ancient “Tea Horse Trading Route” enters Tibet or Sichuan from northwestern of Yunnan.
It enters Tibet when go northwest from here,
It reaches Derong County and Batang County when go northward
It arrives in Weixi County and Dali County when go south
It arrives at Shangri-La City and Lijiang whn go south
During Qing dynasty, local government once set up a ferry and a small garrisoned troops.
Nowadays, a bridge across the Jinsha River-“Fulong Bridge” has been built in Benzilan, which provides great convenience to transportation here.
Best time to travel
From May to October
Local climate
Dry-hot valley climate
Most popular sites
Deqen Moon Bend is located between Deqen County and Derong County. It is regarded as “Moon Bend” by local people, this bend is part of Baimang Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and part of World Natural Heritage “Three Parallel Rivers”. Although it is near 214 National Highway, however, due to its hidden location, so that a local people whom knowns the road is needed in order to find moon bend. Rare solar halos occasionally occur in this area.
Dongzhulin Monastery, also known as “Ganden Dongdrubling” , is located on east slope of Nanyongganding, Shusong (Jol) Village with altitude of 3,100meters above sea level, about 105km away from Shangri-La City, 23km away from Benzilan Town.
It was built in 1667 AD and was a Kagyu pa monastery at beginning. Later, it was converted to be a Gelug pa monastery, then it was merged with 7 other small gompas in this area and was renamed “Ganden Dongdrubling”, which means “achievement of two benefits (self-interest and altruism)“. Since then, its scale has continued to expand. By end of Qing Dynasty, the number of monks living in tmonastery has grown to more than 700, and there are 10 living Buddhas, making it one of the thirteen largest monasteries in Kham
Geography and climate
Benzilan Town is located in Jinsha River valley in Hengduan Mountains. It is a dry and warm valley with sparse vegetation, high temperature and little precipitation. Average annual precipitation is only 374mm, which is a place with the least precipitation south of 29°N latitude in China.
Benzilan Town has an area of 1,452 square kilometers and 62,400 hectares of forest land. The total arable land area is 6,295 mu, and per capita arable land is 0.74 mu
The landforms of Benzilan Town include mountain valleys and alpine cold regions, with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, which is a dry-hot valley. Wheat, corn, barley, etc, are the main food crops, and grapes, yellow fruit, walnuts, etc. are the main economic crops
Population and ethnicity
As of 2017, total population of Benzilan Town is 9794 people. The ethnic groups living here include Tibetan, Han, Naxi, Susu, Miao, Hui and Zhuang, etc.
Recommended hotels in Benzilan
For having a luxury experiences for one soft adventure done in one day, the following below are two recommended exquisite hotels
Songtsam Lodges Benzilan
Add: Bai Ren village, Deqin County
Contact: +86 887 8288889
Tea Horse Road Benzilan
Add: Benzilan village, Deqin County
Contact: +86 887 8998000
In addition to the above listed two boutique hotels, there are about more than 22 economy hotels, guesthouse, dooms, almost all of those are attached with the restaurants, it is recommended to ask the owner of the restaurant that you may have meal at, it is quite possible that you will get discounted room rates than guests whom only want room;
The following below listed hotels are with budget from RMB 60.00 per bed per night to RMB 300.00 per room per night, the room rates may be increased during the high travel season, mostly in the 1st week of May and October
Chao Shen Yuan Hotel
Add: Ben zi lan Xia Street
Contact: +86 887 13988707668
Provided: WiFi, hot-water shower
No credit card service
East Dragon Hotel
Add: Bai Zi Lan Town
Contact: +86 887 15184992661
Provided: WiFi, hot-water shower
No breakfast supply, No credit card service
Hong Yun Holiday Hotel
Add: No. 89, Xi Mu gong, Ben Zi Lan
Contact: +86 887 13988781848
Provided: WiFi, hot-water shower
No credit card service
Ji Xiang Gu Business hotel
Add: Ben zi lan town
Contact: +86 887 3022699
Provided: WiFi, hot-water shower
No breakfast supply, No credit card service
Jin Sha Holiday Grand Hotel
Add: Bai Zi Lan Town
Contact: +86 887 15758486288
Provided: WiFi, hot-water shower
No credit card service
Mei Yi Ru Business hotel
Add: In the center, Bai Zi Lan
Contact: +86 887 13988799336
Provided: WiFi, hot-water shower
No credit card service
How to get to Benzilan
The quickest way to get to Benzilan is by flight to Shangri La city, then switch to local vehicle and drive to this remote beautiful town;
The Diqing Shangri-La Airport (DIG, 3,280m) is about 90 kilometers from Benzilan, it takes 2 hours or maximum 3 hours to cover this drive, the nature view is breathtaking en route.
It usually costs RMB 80 – 100.00 per person for rental vehicle, note: this is for a 7 seats mini van, or you can pay all of RMB 500.00 – 700.00 one way for a private ride in order to make stops on the road for the view
Di Qing Airport
Airport Address: No. 1, Shen-Ying Road, Shangri La city
Airport Code: DIG
Airport altitude: 3,280 meters above sea level
Airport contact: +86 887 822 9916
Distance from Benzilan to
- Deqen County: 100 kilometers, about 2 hours‘ drive
- Shangri La: 80 kilometers, about 1.5 hours’ drive
- Zogang County: 100 kilometers, about 3 hours‘ drive
- Xiangcheng County: 225 kilometers, about 6 hours drive
- Daocheng County: 340 kilometers, about 9 hours’ drive
Brief History
In 1950, it was 6th district of Weixi County
In 1956, Benzilan Administration Office was established
In 1959, Benzilan Administration Office was abolished, and Benzilan district was established, and was placed under jurisdiction of Deqen County.
In 1987, Benzilan District was abolished, Benzilan Village was established
In 2002, Benzilan Town was established based on Benzilan Village
