Shenmulei Scenic Area 神木垒

About Shenmulei Scenic Area

Baoxing County explains the name as a transliteration from Tibetan meaning 'a place where immortals play and amuse themselves'. The county's description of the site pairs towering ancient trees with plateau meadow and says the character of the primeval forest is well preserved; as of the page's 2019 date, tourist mountain paths and wooden bridges had recently been built through it. Tibetan herders' cattle and sheep, mules and horses and even free-ranging pigs graze the hillside meadows.

Baoxing itself lies in the west of the Sichuan Basin and the north of Ya'an prefecture, covering 3,114 square kilometres with a total population of just over 58,000; the county took its present name in 1929 from the phrase 'treasures arise there' in the Doctrine of the Mean. The county profile names Shenmulei, along with Dawagengzha, among five national AAAA tourist areas within its boundaries, and describes Baoxing as a national ecotourism demonstration area. Qiaoqi, the Gyarong Tibetan township the scenic area is named with, has its 'original multi-part folk song' listed as national intangible cultural heritage, and its Shangjiu Festival and Qiaoqi guozhuang dance listed at Sichuan provincial level.

What to look for

• The stand of towering ancient trees, which the county sets against the open plateau meadow above it.
• The plateau meadows themselves, grazed by Tibetan herders' cattle, sheep, mules, horses and free-ranging pigs.
• The mountain paths and wooden bridges built through the forest, described by the county as newly made in 2019.
• The Qiaoqi Tibetan village the scenic area is named with, a Gyarong Tibetan township whose multi-part folk singing is national intangible cultural heritage.

Location & getting there

Getting to Shenmulei Scenic Area

Check weather, trail access and the last return service. A mountain or forest area is not one entrance, and a map’s central pin may be far from the trailhead.

• Search for 神木垒 with 雅安市 and 宝兴县.