Xiangcheng || Xiangcheng
Xiang Cheng (Tibetan: Chaktreng) at 3200m, in Sichuan is used as primarily as an overnight-stop on the route to Yunnan from Litang or Yading or vice versa but it is quite a pleasant town to stop. Coming over the mountain passes from either direction (Bamu mountains from Litang), you will at once see the beautiful villages scattered amongst wheat-field-paddies in the valley ground. The large, cubicle houses look like little castles and with their white-chalked exterior walls. Xiangcheng town occupies a high ridge above the river gorge and consists of an old village paired with a modern Chinese downtown. Above the town is large renovated Chaktreng Monastery of Gelukpa sect with great views of the town and the valley below.