Mao County location, transortation, travel information

Mao County is also called “Maowen County”, it is inhabited by Qiang People, who is believed to be descendants of one tribes of ancient Tibetan. The county is located in the southeastern part of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. It is an important transportation hub, and also the gateway to the world natural heritage sites of Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong . Nowadays, it is usually called as “Mao Xian”

Mao County is the largest settlement of Qiang ethnic groups in China. There are Qiang People Museums in the county, and other the national 4A-level scenic spot including “Qiang Xiang Village”; relatively intact protection of the Diexi earthquake site, the Yingpanshan Neolithic Cultural Site. In addition, there are new tourist attractions such as Jiudingshan Alpine Ski Resort, Black Tiger Village, the Baodinggou National Nature Reserve

Mao County is adjacent to 9 counties of Beichuan, Anxian, Mianzhu, Shifang, Pengzhou, Wenchuan, Lixian and Songpan. It is about 95 kilometers from north to south and 117 kilometers from east to west. It is located in the transition zone from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the western Sichuan Plain. Three mountains surround this county from three sides, which Minshan Mountain in the north, Longmen Mountain in the south and Qionglai Mountain in the west. The Min River runs through the whole territory from north to south, and has its tributaries Heishui River, Chi-Bu-Su River, Songping River and Tumen River

The land of Maoxian is dominated by high mountains and deep valleys. The terrain slopes from northwest to southeast. The average elevation of the peaks is about 4,000 meters, and the relative height is 1500-2500 meters. The main peak of the Wannian Snow Mountain in the west is 5230 meters above sea level. The peak of the lion-king peak in the southeast of Jiuding Mountain is 4984 meters high. The valley in the lower reaches of the Tumen River in the east is 890 meters above sea level, and the county capital town is 1580 meters above sea level.

Mao County is major settlement area that Qiang people lives in across China. There are about more than 30% of the whole Qiang people of China are live in this county. Qiang people is thought to be the descendants of one branch of ancient Tibet, who moved to this region since Qing dynasty.

Due to the perfect altitude and weather, Mao County is regarded as the best place for planting fruits in Sichuan province. In the spring, you can taste cherries. In summer, there are apples, peaches, plums, walnuts…., etc. Maoxian apples are popular in China, peppers and walnuts are excellent. In addition, there are valuable herbal medicines such as Gastrodia elata, Angelica, Fritillaria, Codonopsis, Cordyceps sinensis, Astragalus, Hexiang, Scorpio, Rhubarb…, etc., as well as mushrooms, wild vegetables and other foods. Raw lacquer is also a specialty of Maoxian. Ethnic rugs, Qiang embroidery and Qiang costumes have long history and good feedback from market.

How to get to Mao County

The easiest and quickest way is to take vehicle to Mao Xian from Chengdu, which is only 180 kilometers southeast from Li county and the drive takes about 3 hours long.

Chengdu Airport
Website: http://www.cdairport.com/
Add: Shuangliu District, Chengdu
Contact: +86 28 85205555
Airport code: CTU
Altitude: 495 meter

Chengdu Cha Dian Zi Bus Station
Add: No. 289, Section 5th, West Third ring road;
Jin-Niu district, Chengdu
Contact: +86 28 87506610
Altitude: 460 meter