Luding County, also known as “Chakzamka County” in Tibetan, is a county under jurisdiction of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Luding County is a mountainous and multi-ethnic county in Garze Prefecture with the smallest land area, relatively high education level, densest population, and rapid economic development.
It is also the regional commercial center and the supply base of agricultural products in all counties in Garze prefecture. The county is rich in fruits, such as cherries, persimmons, and loquats; Luding walnuts, Moxi old bacon, and Luding red cherries have been applied for the status of China Geographical Indication Products
In 45th year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty (AD 1706), a cable bridge was built here. After the completion of the cable bridge, Emperor Kangxi gave it the name “Luding Bridge“, “Lu” is the initial of the name of this river; “Ding” means stability and peace, here it also means stability and peace after wiping out riots in this area.
Location
The county seat of Luqiao Town is 1,321 meters above sea level, about 285 kilometers from provincial capital Chengdu, and 49 kilometers from prefectural capital Kangding City
Luding County borders Tianquan County, Yingjing County, and Hanyuan County to east, Kangding City and Jiulong County to west, and Shimian County to south.
Best time to travel
From May to October
Local climate
Subtropical monsoon climate
Most popular sites
Hailuogou Glacier Hailuogou is located on east slope of Gongga Mountain, Luding County. It is popular for its low-altitude modern glaciers, which is 2850 meters above sea level.
It is the highest ice waterfall ever discovered in China with size of 1080 meters high and 0.5 meters to 1100 meters wide. Hailuogou valley contains a large flow of hot and cold mineral springs, and a large area of virgin forest and extremely high icy mountain peaks.
Luding Iron Bridge , also known as the Luding Chain Bridge, is located on Dadu River in Luding County. According to historical record, after Emperor Kangxi of Qing dynasty unified China, he approved construction of this bridge in order to strengthen cultural and economic exchanges in Sichuan-Tibet area. This bridge was built in 1705 AD and completed in 1706 AD. It is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese bridge architecture.
It is 103 meters long and 3 meters wide. 13 iron chains are fixed in the wells of bridge abutments on both sides, 9 are used as bottom chains, and 4 are used as handrails on both sides. There are 12,164 iron rings interlocking in total. The iron parts of the whole bridge weigh more than 40 Ton. The ancient castles on both sides of Luding Bridge are traditional wooden ancient buildings, unique to China. Since Qing Dynasty, Luding Bridge has been an important channel for entering Tibet from Sichuan as wellas an important military base
Gongga Mountain, located at the boundary of Kangding City and Luding County, is main peak of Daxue Mountain of Hengduan Mountains. It is 7556 meters above sea level and is also the highest peak in Sichuan Province. Gongga Mountain is one of the most developed glaciers in China. There are hundreds of glaciers covering an area of 300 square kilometers.
Geography and climate
Luding County is located in the transition zone from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to Sichuan Basin, in the southeast of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in the middle reaches of Dadu River(Gyarong Ngulchu). It is 70 kilometers from north to south and 50 kilometers from east to west with total area of 2,165 square kilometers.
The landform of Luding County belongs to the deepest valley area in alpine plateau of western Sichuan. The mountains are oriented from north to south. The types of landforms range from low and middle high mountains to high and extremely high mountains.
The lowest elevation in Luding County is 132l meters, and the highest elevation is 7556 meters above sea level. The horizontal distance from the highest mountain to the lowest Dadu River is no more than 10 kilometers, and the relative height difference between mountains and valleys is more than 5,000 meters.
Luding County is dually affected by the southeast, southwest monsoons and the cold air of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The area below 1800 meters above sea level has a subtropical monsoon climate, which is a dry and hot valley area. The high mountains are covered with snow all year round;
From river valleys to ridges, climate, vegetation, soil, etc. show obvious vertical changes. There are flat fields, terraces, valleys, mountains, plains, and glaciers in the territory.
The climate in Luding County is no severe cold in winter, dry and warm, with an average temperature of 7.5℃ in winter; no intense heat in summer, cool with an average temperature of 22.7℃ in summer;
Annual average temperature is 16.5℃, annual extreme maximum temperature is 33.8℃, and annual minimum temperature is -2.2℃.
Annual rainfall is 664 mm, annual evaporation is 1,276 mm, annual average sunshine hours is 1,324 hours, and the annual frost-free period is 279 days.
The largest river in Luding County is Dadu River(Gyarong Ngulchu), which runs through the entire territory from north to south. There are other 48 streams with a drainage area of 2021 square kilometers.
Population and ethnicity
As of 2019, Luding has a total population of 89,025 people, mainly Han, Tibetan, and Yi, accounting for 77.62%, 14.71%, and 6.71% of the total population, respectively. Other ethnic groups include Qiang, Miao, Hui, Mongolian, Tujia, Lisu, Manchu, Yao, Dong, Naxi, Buyi, Bai, Zhuang, Dai and other ethnic groups.
Recommended hotels in Luding County
Binfu Business Hotel
Add : Unit 3rd, Li Bao Xiang Song, Cheng Wu Road
Contact : +86 836 316-0666
Hong Cheng Hotel
Add : No. 6, Fang Gu Stree
Contact : +86 836 666-8888 / 886-6666
Huang Qiao Hotel
Add : Red Army Road Central Plaza, Luding county
Contact : +86 836 689-6800
Luding Bridge Hotel
Add: No. 56, Chi Shui Road
Contact: +86 836 3123888
Mei Zhou hotel
Add: No. 340, Hong Jun Road
Contact: +86 836 3129999
Pengba Shilixiang Hotel
Add : No. 888, Yan An Road
Contact : +86 836 316-6333
Shi Li xiang Hotel
Add: No. 36, Yan An Road
Contact: +86 836 3126333
Yu Ma Hotel
Add : No. 55, Cheng Wu Road
Contact : +86 836 316-2222
Yun Tong Hotel
Add: No. 1, Cheng Wu Road
Contact: +86 836 3151688
How to get to Luding county
Luding is 49 kilometers from Kangding, and another 40 kilometers to Kangding airport; it takes about 3-4 hours drive from Luding county to Kangding airport; Luding is about 280 kilometers which usually costs 5 hours driving, when to including the time to spend in the airport, i.e, luggage check, security check…etc, it is even shorter to use the land transportation other than by flight unless wanting to have a bird view of Kangding and its surrounding from air is the main focus, anyway, this are two options for getting to this destination though.
Kangding Airport
Contact: +86 836 282 7811
IATA Code: KGT
Altitude: 4,238 meters
Luding Bus Station
Add : No. 1, Cheng Wu Road
Contact : +86 28 312-2709/312-5082
Altitude : 1,600 meters
Distance from Luding to
- Chengdu: 270 kilometers, about 5 hours’ drive
- Kangding: 46 kilometers, about 1 hour’ drive
- Bamei : 165 kilometers, about 4 hours’ drive
- Litang: 290 kilometers, about 6 hours’ drive
- Hailuogou Glacier: 62 kilometers, about 1.5 hours’ drive
Brief history
During Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), Luding area was part of “Ze Dou county” which was established in the area of Kangding
During Tang Dynasty (AD 618-AD 907) , Dadu county was established in the land of Luding
During Jin Dynasty (AD 266-AD 420), It was changed to “Jin Le county”
During Song Dynasty (960 AD-1279 AD), Jimi System, which was regarded as Pre-chieftain system was implemented
During Yuan Dynasty (1271-AD 1368) and Ming Dynasty(AD 1368-AD 1644), “Chieftain system” was officially implemented
In 3rd years of Emperor Xuantong of Qing Dynasty, Luding Bridge Committee was established
In the 1st year of Republic of China (1912), Luding County and Hualin County were established,
In the 2nd year of Republic of China (1913), Hualin County was merged into Luding county, and Luding county was placed under governance of Xikang Provincial Government.
From January to September 1956, it was managed by Ya’an Special Administration Area,
In 1956, it was placed under jurisdiction of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
