Lulang Forest Sea 鲁朗林海

About Lulang Forest Sea

In its own introduction to the forest sea the Bayi District government describes the place as a vantage point for sunrise, cloud seas, forest seas and rainbows and as one of the best viewpoints for Namcha Barwa, and calls the surrounding country an important ecological barrier of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The forest it names is chiefly broadleaf forest, coniferous forest, larch, spruce, fir and cypress, among others; the medicinal plants it lists include 虫草, 红景天, 手掌参, 雪莲花, 天麻 and 贝母, and the fungi it lists include 松茸, 猴头菌, 青冈菌 and 大脚菇. The same page gives a forestry-department measurement of Sejila Mountain's forest coverage as 55.1 per cent over 100,000 hectares, and records that local people have moved from felling trees to guarding them, with Dongbacai village in Lulang town setting up a tourism cooperative that runs scenic spots and brings the village collective a direct annual income of more than 2 million yuan.

The forest sea sits inside a wider Lulang landscape. A China Network Television report carried by People's Daily Online places Lulang town in the east of Bayi District with National Highway 318 crossing it from east to west, and lists Sejila National Forest Park, Namcha Barwa and the Lulang Forest Sea among the town's natural landscapes. The Nyingchi City culture and tourism bureau places the Lulang scenic area below Sejila Mountain in Bayi District and names a Lulang Forest Sea viewing platform among its marked viewpoints, set on the mid-slope of Sejila Mountain, together with a Lulang alpine pasture.

Two elevation figures appear in this record and they describe different subjects. The 4,000 metres is the Bayi District government's figure for the forest sea; the 3,385 metres that the China Network Television report gives is for Lulang town. No cited source gives the forest sea's area, the age of its trees, or any viewpoint on it other than the viewing platform, and the 55.1 per cent forest coverage is stated by the district government for Sejila Mountain as a whole rather than for the forest sea.

What to look for

• The Lulang Forest Sea viewing platform, which the Nyingchi City culture and tourism bureau places on the mid-slope of Sejila Mountain, from where it says the forest sea can be taken in
• The Lulang alpine pasture, which the same bureau names among the scenic area's marked viewpoints
• The forest itself, which the Bayi District government describes as chiefly broadleaf forest, coniferous forest, larch, spruce, fir and cypress, among others
• The medicinal plants the Bayi District government lists, among them 虫草, 红景天, 手掌参, 雪莲花, 天麻 and 贝母
• The fungi the Bayi District government lists, among them 松茸, 猴头菌, 青冈菌 and 大脚菇

Location & getting there

Getting to Lulang Forest Sea

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 鲁朗林海 with 林芝市 and 巴宜区.