Songpan County

Songpan County is located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, with a county area of 8486 square kilometers and population of 74,888 (Year 2011); its altitude is about 2850 meters above sea level. The main ethnic groups are Tibetan, Han, Hui and Qiang people; Songpan County is situated in the middle of the Minshan Mountains on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is also the birthplace of Minjiang River and Fujiang River. The highest point of this county is the main peak of Minshan Mountain (5588 meters above sea level)

Songpan was an important military outpost located on the border in ancient China. it was also the distribution center of the tea-horse exchange market between the mainland of China and the Western Qiang and Tibet. Songpan borders Pingwu County to the east, Mao County to the south, Beichuan County to the southeast, Hongyuan County and Heishui County to the west and southwest, and Jiuzhaigou County and Zorge County to the north

Songpan County has a prototype continental climate, with large temperature differences between day and night, and summer is cool and humid; rainfall is mostly in the period from May to September. The average temperature in January is -4.0℃, the average temperature in July is 15℃, and the annual average temperature is 6℃.

The Tang Dynasty established Songzhou in what is now Songpan County,In the 11th year of Hong-wu (1378) of Ming dynasty, Songzhou and Panzhou were merged to become Songpan. Songpan Town was established in the early years of Qing Dynasty and troops were sent to garrison. In 1914, Songpan was officially to be come Songpan County. There are about 15 monasteries of Bonpo Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, mostly are bonpo sects;

Best travel time

Summer and Autumn

Popular view sites

Huanglong Scenic Area: it becomes popular for its Colorful calcification pools and rare karst landforms

Songzhou Ancient City Songpan was called Songzhou in ancient times. The rushing Minjiang River runs from east to west through the ancient city and has the thickest ancient city wall in the country. It was not only a military fortress in northwest Sichuan, but also an important post in the tea-horse exchange market with a long history of Tibetan, Qiang, Hui and Han people.

Chuanzhu Si “Si” is chinese pronounciation, means temple. However, Chuanzhu Si is not a temple but a small town that it is the only place to pass to Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong Scenic Area and the prairie in northwest Sichuan. Jiuzhai Huanglong airport is located in this town;

Transportation

Songpan County is about 300 kilometers from Chengdu and is located at the center of the tourist route in western Sichuan. It is an important traffic hub to connect Zorge, Langmu Si, Jiuzhaigou valley， Hongyuan….

The Jiuzhai Huanglong airport is about 35 kilometers away;

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