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Trekking / Gongga in-depth trek
Private guided trek
Nine days on the quiet horse trails all around Gongga Shan — the gompa, the base camp, the hidden west, Langgatso and the 4,950-metre Riuqi Pass — with porters carrying the camp and a private group only.
Ask about this itineraryThe trail to Gongga Gompa · the monastery under the mountain
the Riuqi Pass — 100 metres above the group trek's route
the rest: hotel, monastery and village lodges
porters move the camp; a cook crew feeds it
some seasons walk better in the reverse direction
Why this route
This is the deep version of the Konka circuit: the same mountain as the group trek but a longer, quieter line, starting on the hidden west side and finishing over the high Riuqi Pass at 4,950 metres — 100 metres above anything the shorter circuit touches. It follows old horse trails that never became roads, past the gompa, up to the base camp under the summit, over to Langgatso, and through the Moxi valley where the camp sits among glaciers for two nights.
It is run as a private, supported camping trek: porters and packhorses move tents and food, a cook crew handles dinner and breakfast, and the direction of the circuit flexes with the season — some years the walk is better done in reverse, and the guide will say which before you commit.
Three nights under canvas, one in the monastery, one in a village lodge, the rest in hotels. May to October is the window; the pass days need legs and the weather needs respect, and the itinerary is built to give both.
The route
West first — the gompa and base camp — then over the top of the range by Langgatso and the Moxi valley, and out over the Riuqi Pass. Three camps, one monastery, two villages.
Day by day
One direction, three camps. Distances and altitudes are the trek's own; the sequence can run in reverse in some seasons.
Chengdu → Xinduqiao
Six or seven hours west on the expressway to Xinduqiao at 3,400 metres, with the afternoon free to walk the town gently and finish the shopping — the last proper shops before the trail. The night is the first rung of acclimatisation.
Over the Zimei Pass → Gongga Gompa
Four hours of road over the Zimei Pass and down to the village of Tsemed, where the trail begins: steep paths through old rhododendron forest, prayer flags thickening as the valley narrows, to the Gongga Gompa at 3,750 metres — the Kagyupa monastery that has base-camped every expedition to the mountain.
If the monastery is open there is a tour; either way the sunset turns the main summit gold directly above the roof. The night is a dormitory bed in the monastery.
Gongga base camp
A full day out and back behind the monastery, following the glacier stream past the old Nama camp at 4,000 metres to the new base camp under the mountain at 4,200 metres — the closest approach to Gongga Shan on the trek, its ice filling the head of the valley.
The trail is steep and loose in places; poles earn their keep. Blue sheep hold the crags and on rare days red panda cross the scrub. Back to the same dormitory for the night.
Over Zimei → Langgatso
Back over the pass to Tsemed, local transport over the Zimei viewpoint and by village roads to the Yulongxi country. The afternoon climbs from 4,000 metres to Langgatso at 4,500 — the holy lake that mirrors the entire west face — with horses available if the legs decline.
The night is a village lodge at 4,000 metres, and the view from it is one of the trip's quiet privileges.
Over the Yulongxi Pass → Moxi camp
A seven o'clock start for the long, steady climb to the Yulongxi Pass at 4,500 metres — the peaks close enough to touch on a clear day — then the gradual descent into the Moxi valley to the first camp of the trek at 4,000 metres, with views of mountain and glacier all the way down.
The camp crew has the tents up; dinner comes out of a kitchen that has walked in with you.
Moxi → Reddomain camp
An easy day between two hard ones: ten kilometres up the valley to the camp at its head, below Reddomain, waking to alpenglow on the glaciers and walking the high line along the river with ice and summits on the east side all day.
Photography, slow food and an early night at 4,400 metres — tomorrow is the pass.
Over the Riuqi Pass
The hardest and most beautiful day: a steep climb to the Riuqi Pass at 4,950 metres, the top of the trek, looking south across the whole line of the range — Jiazi, Grosvenor, Little Konka, Reddomain, Daddomain. The pass must be crossed before early afternoon.
The descent passes the glacier lake at the foot of 6,112-metre Reddomain — a climber's base camp — and reaches an open grassland camp at 4,500 metres with mountain and lake in view.
Upper Riuqi → out
The walk out: down the Riuqi valley past the crags of Tshiburongi and the valley walls the horses have always used, eighteen kilometres of descending trail to the road head and the drive to Xinduqiao — or Kangding, by the classic line, for those who want the longer exit.
The direction matters less than the morning light: the valley walls catch it gold for the first two hours. A hotel and real beds close the trekking.
→ Chengdu
Six to seven hours back to Chengdu with a lunch stop, arriving in the late afternoon. The trek ends at your hotel — with the whole range behind you.
Along the way
Horse trails through unfenced country — the animals are few, wild and worth the watching.
The gompa valley · the Moxi and Riuqi valleys · the passes
Blue sheep are near-routine on the base camp day; red panda live in the valley scrub and are met perhaps once a season.
Chances are field estimates, not promises. The trek sleeps between 3,400 and 4,500 metres and crosses a 4,950-metre pass.
What's included
A fully supported camping trek: crew, horses, food on the mountain and beds off it are in the price.
Arranged and paid for before you arrive.
An English-speaking trekking guide
Private, for the whole nine days.
Porters and packhorses
The camp moves; you carry a day pack.
Tents and camp equipment
Plus cook crew, all camp dinners and breakfasts.
Tickets and transfers
Everything on the route, arranged ahead.
Beds off the mountain
Hotels, the monastery and the village lodge, twin share with breakfast where it exists.
Yours, or yours to ask us about.
Lunches and town meals
Outside the quote; snacks for the trail come from Chengdu or Xinduqiao.
Chengdu nights
The city at either end is yours to book.
Personal gear
Sleeping bag and boots; rental can be arranged.
Single room or tent
Quoted with the booking.
Tips and personal expenses
At your discretion.
A full packing list follows confirmation. The direction of the circuit can run in reverse in some seasons — the guide decides with the conditions, not the calendar.
Enquiry
Tell us your window and how many of you there are. We will come back with the season's direction for the circuit, the trek notes, and a written outline with a price.
Read next: The Minya Konka group trek · The self-supported Konka trek · The Riwuqi trek, 4 days · Five ways to walk Minya Konka · The monastery night, described · The monastery night, and the etiquette
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