Tagong is not very big, but very interesting to stay in. You can see a different culture here: Tibetan monastery, Prayer Flags, Marnyi Stones, etc.

You can slowly wander the Tagong grasslands. Covering an area of 712 square kilometers, it is the most famous and beautiful grassland in Garzi. From June to August, the pastures are green and lush, and the sheep and yak graze slowly. If lucky, you will be invited to a warm herdsman’s home for a cup of butter tea. In this beautiful place, a horse trek is a popular option, and on the way, you can see a valley full of prayer stone carvings and paintings.

The horse festival is held once or twice a year. It is the most important festival for the Tibetans: the locals in neighboring areas wear colorful traditional festival costumes. Then an exciting horse riding competition comes, accompanied by music, dancing, and many other folk activities.

After a hike or horse riding, you can visit Tagong Monastery. One of the three most important Tibetan Buddhist temples in this area is the Sakya Temple of Tibetan Buddhism, which is still active for over 1,000 years and contains the Buddha Statue of Sakyamuni and many precious Tibetan Buddhist relics. Every year in the middle and late June of the Tibetan calendar, the temple will hold a grand Buddhist festival, the monks dance in their masks, and the locals wear their most beautiful clothes.

Looking from Tagong monastery, Yarla snow mountain seems to be in front of us. With 5,820 meters above sea level, it is described as one of the four sacred mountains in the Tibetan region and is also known as the “Second Shambhala” in Tibetan tradition. Shambhala is supposed to be an ideal world, a fantasy world inhabited by gods. Locals believe Yarla’s snowy mountains bring good luck. Depending on where you look, the peaks appear in different forms.