Ruoergai Tibetan Grasslands

With an elevation of over 3000 m in altitude, Ruoergai is a large area of grassland on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. A day’s drive from Chengdu and very accessible via trips from both Jiuzhaigou and Songpan it’s an area that is getting increasingly popular with tourists. Many tourist agencies offer trips but this has led to ugly tourist ghettos of fake, rubbish strewn Tibetan tent villages where package groups are offered rides – being pulled around by the halter, like kids taking a donkey ride on the beach – on teams sad looking horses, or a cup of Tibetan yak butter tea. If you want the real Ruoergai we suggest avoiding this type of visit.
The real Ruoergai is a bleak, bare landscape – miles of rolling grassland, bordered by high mountain, inhabited by herds of yak and flocks of strange curly horned sheep. Here you’ll see local Tibetans in their traditional costume – the men in long-armed jackets and the women sporting long dresses, ethnic head wear and jewellery. In the summer, many herders migrate to the pastures and set up real tent villages – but be very careful in getting close to these since they are nearly always guarded by fierce Tibetan Mastiffs who can be less than friendly to intruders

For wildlife enthusiasts this is very good site with a top highlight being the rare Black-necked Crane, which breeds and can usually be found around Flower Lake (Huahu Scenic Area). In many areas, visitors may notice small hamster like creatures, which form large colonies of burrows and may be seen trying to cross the road. These are Pikas, a relative of rabbits, and the staple diet for most of the carnivore species – foxes, badgers, cats, polecats, falcons, buzzards, eagles, owls – that live in this habitat. For those less interested in the local wildlife, the site of an occasional early-morning Wolf crossing the road may still be an exciting experience.

There are two main places to stay in the area – Ruoergai town or Langmusi. With the areas newfound tourist popularity there are many hotel options at Ruoergai. With an altitude of 3,300 m some visitors, especially those who haven’t taken time to properly acclimatize to altitude (a day or two sleeping at an altitude approaching 2,000 m) may find themselves with headache and nausea symptoms. These symptoms usually disappear, and the vast majority of our clients have no problems after one or two nights. Langmusi is to the north, just over the Gansu border. Here there are a couple of important monasteries, that have long been popular tourist destinations, and the local town also contains several hotels.