Jinchuan County

Jinchuan County was called “Chu-Chen” also Rabden town. It is located on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The county borders Xiaojin County in the east, Litang County in the west, Danba County of Garze Prefecture in the south, and Barkham County in the north. It is 487 kilometers away from Chengdu of the provincial capital, and 89 kilometers away from Barkham which is the state capital. It is an important passage that to connect Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and Garzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and it is also one of the channels for getting into Qinghai province from Sichuan Province.

Jinchuan County has a mild climate and abundant products, known as the first county of Aba Prefecture for its rich Hydro-power,and the Hometown of “snow-pear”. It has rich natural and cultural attractions，including Guangfa Temple which the one of the four Royal Temples of Qing Dynasty; the Watching tower with height of 49.5 meters, which is regarded as the King of Watching towers in China.Every spring,pear blossoms that to make the entire county becoming a “Flower Ocean”, very beautiful.

Major Attraction

Guang Fa Temple (Tenpel Gonpa) | 广法寺 Starting from the Jinchuan County, follow the river downstream for about 23 kilometers, The Guangfa Temple the former Royal temple of Qing Dynasty is on the other side of the river. It was a Bon sect of Tibet religion, and converting to Gelug Pa under the force of arms of the Qing Dynasty army. In 1776 with great funds directly from the imperial family of Qing Dynasty, the monastery was rebuilt and being called “Tenpel Gonpa”, its golden roof were among the most lavish across Tibetan plateau. Unfortunately, this wealthy monastery was destroyed in the culture revolutionary in 20th century, interestingly it was reclaimed by the Bon Religion subsequently.
Guangfa Temple faces southwest,the pure gold roof shines. There are four Tibetan Buddhist scriptures Towers in the front and rear. It used to house nearly 2000 monks

Guanyinqiao Scenic Area | 观音桥景区 covers an area of more than 300 square kilometers, with a maximum elevation of 5,300 meters. Here, there are Five major landscapes and 36 scenic spots, including Tibetan temples, alpine meadows, plateau lakes, alpine valleys, and plateau color forests. In 2012, Guanyinqiao Scenic Area has successfully been declared to become a national 4A level scenic spot.
Guanyinqiao Town is a traffic hub connecting Aba, Serta, Qinghai Province and Labrang monastery in Gansu and other places. The Hotel accommodation business in this town is very developed, and almost all the towns are hotels or inns.

Guanyin Temple (Bodhisattva Temple) | 观音庙 is one of the core scenic spots. It is named after the four-arms Guanyin in the temple which with history of more than 1,300 years. Legend tells that in the 7th century AD, a naturally-formed, four-arms Guanyin was discovered underground. People firmly believe that this is a naturally formed god, so it is called Tian-cheng Guanyin, and built a temple to worship. Here, Tian-Cheng means formed by nature. The Guanyin Temple in this town is regarded as one holy place and one of the three major Bodhisattva Dojos in China.

“Snow-pear”scenic area |金川雪梨景区
The “snow-pear” planting area in the Jinchuan River Valley stretches over a hundred kilometers along the Dadu River, reaching more than 100,000 plants. Every spring is the best period of viewing snow-pear flowers. When it blossoms, the river valley shall be covered with snow-white pear blossoms, the roads in and out of the county are all through the snow-pear flowers.

Sha’er Township is 4.7 kilometers away from Jinchuan County. It consists of many beautiful Tibetan villages which are all on the mountains. The winding roads connect all the Tibetan villages together. This county is regarded as the best site for view the snow-pear flowers in Spring in Jinchuan County。

The flowering period of Jinchuan’s Snow-pear is about two weeks,in addition, there is another great nature view of “The Red Leaves” in October. In autumn, the red leaves that stretch for dozens of kilometers dyes the whole Jinchuan River Valley to be red

How to get there

Jinchuan county is located in the valleys of Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, the closest airport is Kangding airport.

Despite Kangding airport is close to this town, the most chosen transportation of local people is still by vehicle overland to the provincial capital of Chengdu, from which to get to other cities by flight

Distance from Jinchuan

• To Xinduqiao : 240 kilometers, about 5.5 hours’ drive
• To Kangding : 240 kilometers, about 6.5 hours’ drive
• To Barkham : 89 kilometers, about 2 hours’ drive
• To Kangding Airport : 285 kilometers, about 6.5 hours’ drive
• To Dawu county : 254 kilometers, about 6 hours’ drive
• To Danba : 95 kilometers, about 2.5 hours’ drive
• To Chengdu : 430 kilometers, about 8 hours’ drive
• To Litang County : 440 kilometers, about 9.5 hours’ drive
• To Zamtang County : 210 kilometers, about 5 hours’ drive
• To Sertar County : 290 kilometers, about 6 hours’ drive