Best Autumn Viewing Experience 1/3 [Luorong Pasture, Yading Nature Reserve]

Daocheng Yading or Yading Nature Reserve is dubbed as the last pure land on Earth. I love pure land, and had high hopes before visiting the reserve. The scenery there however had further exceeded my expectation. This happened more than a year ago (2023). A pasture in a nature reserve? Kind of funny! Bought a ticket for sightseeing bus at Chonggu Temple visitor center to Luorong Pasture, and along the way, sight of undisturbed forests and majestic mountains could be seen. When the bus arrived at the pasture, I was like, wow... and my jaw dropped momentarily! Vast grasslands are found all over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and here was one of them in Ganzi, Sichuan, so... so lost of words! The grassland was a reddish yellow carpet. Following the walk board, I entered into this unknown territory. Calm clear streams gently meandering through the grassland. Yet, rugged and majestic mountains surrounded the valley, as if guarding the pasture, acknowledging visitors who were arriving here. And behind these majestic mountains are grand snow mountains, at three sides! I took my time, sightseeing; photogenic angles were everywhere, and it felt like I was being surrounded by beautiful sceneries, as though begging me to photograph everyone of them. There were stretches of shaded forested area along the walkway, where wild deers hopped into the scene under the shade. I did not know what kind of deers they were, but there were more than a herd of them! There were also blue alpine flowers which caught my attention at some slopes. As I walked towards Yangmaiyong snow mountain, the elevation kept increasing, there was even a graceful tall waterfall seen along the way. Eventually a lake came into the view. The colors of the lake waters, its surrounding terrain and autumn vegetation were indescribable, especially grand in scenery with Yangmaiyong snow mountain as the backdrop. On the way out, Xiannuoduoji snow mountain was then the main backdrop of pastures, rivers and forests. Now, wild deer herds were seen among the open bushes. And as the elevation drop further to reveal an expanse of pasture, horses were seen spreaded out and graze peacefully. Some were just beside the walkway, seemed inobvious to human presence. And I thought, "So this is how a pure land looks like!". I was so impressed that I came back for a visit one year later for another autumn viewing experience! #china #travel #naturalwonders #thingstodo