Cuopu Valley 措普沟

About Cuopu Valley

The county's introduction describes the reserve as including mountains, snow peaks, plateau lakes, old forest, rivers, gorges, waterfalls, hot springs, grassland, a monastery and wild plants and animals, and the prefecture's own item lists much the same elements. That item counts more than a hundred lakes scattered across Batang County, Cuola lake and Yamocuogen lake among them, and places Cuopu lake ringed by mountains against the bare, oddly shaped sacred peak of Zhajinjiabo, with the 5,833-metre Nitegangri facing it and dense old forest and green grass slopes around it. A pair of sister lakes lies in the forest beside Cuopu lake.

The county describes the valley's geothermal field at length. More than a thousand spring vents of varying size lie scattered on the hillsides, beside the road, in the forest, in the fields, below the cliffs and along the river, filling the whole valley, with steam rising even at the corners of people's houses. Three geysers stand out among the Rekeng springs: the smallest erupts every ten minutes or so, the middle one every two or three hours, and the one the county calls the most spectacular once a day, throwing a column of water four or five metres high at above 100 degrees Celsius. In early 2001 the Rekeng geothermal field was formally designated by the relevant national departments as one of the geoparks given priority for development at provincial level.

The reserve holds a great many wild animals, among them leopard, musk deer, white-lipped deer, argali, swans, wild ducks and eared pheasants, along with many kinds of birds and fish. Cuopu monastery is a Nyingma monastery of Tibetan Buddhism whose full name the county gives as the Auspicious Cuopu Monastery for the Flourishing of Buddhist Teaching and Practice, with more than a hundred monks and nuns; the Zhangde grassland lies ringed by snow mountains. The prefecture's register of A-grade tourist areas, current to 11 April 2022, lists the Cuopugou Scenic Area at grade 4A and gives its address as Chaluo township, where the county's 2011 introduction writes Cuola.

What to look for

• The three geysers of the Rekeng field, on cycles of about ten minutes, two to three hours and once a day, the last of them throwing water four or five metres high at above 100 degrees Celsius.
• The spread of more than a thousand spring vents across hillside, roadside, forest, field, cliff foot and riverbank.
• Cuopu lake below the bare rock of the sacred mountain Zhajinjiabo, with Nitegangri at 5,833 metres facing it.
• The pair of sister lakes in the forest beside Cuopu lake.
• Cuopu monastery, a Nyingma house with more than a hundred monks and nuns, and the Zhangde grassland within its ring of snow mountains.

Location & getting there

Getting to Cuopu Valley

Confirm the visitor entrance and which boat or walking routes operate on your date. Rainfall, water levels and weather can change access.

• Search for 措普沟 with 甘孜藏族自治州 and 巴塘县.