Gadê County 甘德县

Setting and landscape

Gadê is a county of steep, cut-up mountains and valleys that fall from the north-west to the south-east. The highest peak, Jiergen (吉尔根), rises to 5,200 metres at the head of the East Kequ River (东柯曲河), and the lowest ground, at 3,680 metres, is where the Masai River (马赛河) meets the Yellow River. All its rivers, including the East and West Kequ and the Dangqu (当曲河), drain to the Yellow River. The county government gives an annual mean temperature of -4°C and a cold season of nine to ten months, with frequent winter and spring gales.

What to see

The Guancang Gorge (官仓峡), which the county government calls the first gorge of the Yellow River, runs for about 4 kilometres in Ganglong township (岗龙乡), with waterfalls and forests of Qinghai spruce, Qilian juniper, birch and aspen on its slopes. Three kilometres upstream stands Banma Rentuo Mountain (班玛仁脱山, 4,896 metres), a sacred peak with nearly 100 metres of rock carvings and marks that legend attributes to the hooves of Gesar's horse. Xiarihu Monastery (夏日乎寺), on the west bank of the Yellow River, is the county's only Gelug monastery and its oldest, and keeps letters of the Fifth Dalai Lama and the Ninth Panchen Lama. Dongji Duoka Monastery (东吉多卡寺), 12 kilometres from the county town, was founded in 1837 by a Nyingma lama as a tent monastery.

The county government lists Gesar (格萨尔) epic culture among Gadê's tourism resources. The county has 13 Gesar transmission bases; the Der'wen (德尔文) recitation base was named China's first village of Gesar epic culture, and the Xiacang (夏仓) base for Gesar horseback Tibetan opera is among three on the national intangible-heritage list. The Mayu Gesar Culture Centre (玛域格萨尔文化中心) was founded in 1982 at Longen Monastery (龙恩寺), whose monks' troupe stages Gesar stories.

Food and local products

Tsampa, beef and mutton are the traditional staples. Tsampa is roasted highland barley flour mixed by hand in the bowl with butter, qula (曲拉, dried curd) and tea; meat, the herders' main food, is mostly boiled and eaten by hand. Blood sausage is made by mixing blood with diced meat, salt and spring onion in cleaned small intestine; it is boiled and eaten before the blood has fully set. Fu brick tea (茯茶) is boiled plain or made into milk tea. Caterpillar fungus, rhubarb, fritillary and juema (蕨麻, silverweed root) grow widely and in quantity, and are the county's main source of sideline income.

Highlights

• Guancang Gorge 官仓峡: About 4 km of Yellow River gorge with waterfalls and spruce and juniper forest.
• Banma Rentuo Mountain 班玛仁脱山: Sacred 4,896 m peak with rock carvings and legendary hoofprints of Gesar's horse.
• Xiarihu Monastery 夏日乎寺: The county's oldest monastery and its only Gelug house, holding letters of the Fifth Dalai Lama and Ninth Panchen Lama.
• Mayu Gesar Culture Centre 玛域格萨尔文化中心: Founded in 1982 at Longen Monastery; its monks stage Gesar operas.
• Gesar horseback Tibetan opera 格萨尔马背藏戏: The Xiacang transmission base is on the national intangible-heritage list.