What was the tea-horse road?

A network of caravan routes by which tea from Sichuan and Yunnan was carried to Tibet and exchanged for horses and other goods. From Ya'an, porters carried brick tea over the mountains to Kangding, where it was repacked for yak caravans heading west to Lhasa.

Is Kangding on the plateau?

The town itself lies at about 2,500 metres in a valley below the plateau edge; west of it, the Zheduo Pass climbs to over 4,000 metres onto the grasslands of Kham. The altitude of the passes and of the airport can cause altitude sickness.

Historic city · Cultural centre · Scenic area · Sichuan

Kangding

康定 (Kāngdìng)

Tea-trading town of Dartsedo on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau

Kangding, historically Dartsedo or Dajianlu, is a county-level city in western Sichuan and the capital of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. For centuries the main market where Sichuan tea was traded for Tibetan goods, it lies in a narrow valley at about 2,500 metres below Mount Paoma, and its territory includes Mount Gongga, the highest peak in Sichuan.

ProvinceSichuan

Key facts

Province: Sichuan
Administrative level: County-level city, capital of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
Elevation of the town: about 2,500 m
Highest point: Mount Gongga, 7,556 m

Overview

Kangding lies where the Zheduo and Yala rivers meet in a steep valley of the Daxue Mountains, the range that divides the Sichuan Basin from the plateau. East of it lie Han farming counties; west of the Zheduo Pass begins the Tibetan world of Kham, with grasslands, monasteries and nomad camps.

This position made the town the principal trading post on the tea-horse route from Ya'an to Lhasa. Brick tea carried on porters' backs over the mountains from Ya'an was repacked here in the courtyards of trading houses and taken on by yak caravans. Today Kangding is the administrative centre of a prefecture that covers much of western Sichuan.

Names and nicknames

打箭炉 (Dǎjiànlú)
The older Chinese name, rendering the Tibetan Dartsedo; popular legend explains it as the place where Zhuge Liang's general forged arrows.
情歌之乡 (qínggē zhī xiāng)
“home of the love song”
After the Kangding Love Song, one of the best-known Chinese folk songs.

History

Dartsedo was the seat of the Chakla (Mingzheng) kingdom, a Tibetan principality whose rulers held the title of native chieftain under the Ming and Qing. After the Qing made it the official tea-trading post with Tibet around 1700, Han merchants and Tibetan traders settled in the town, and the guozhuang trading houses acted as inns, warehouses and brokers. In 1908 the Qing made it a subprefecture named Kangding. In 1939 it became the capital of the new Xikang province, created from western Sichuan and eastern Kham and abolished in 1955. Kangding became a county-level city in 2015.

Ming–Qing
Chakla kingdom
The hereditary Tibetan rulers of Dartsedo governed much of the region under imperial titles.
c. 1700
Tea-trading post
The Qing designated Dartsedo as the main market for the tea trade with Tibet, which drew merchants from across Sichuan and Shaanxi.
1908
Renamed Kangding
The Qing turned the town into a regular administrative seat during its reforms in Kham.
1939
Capital of Xikang province
The short-lived province joined western Sichuan with eastern Kham; it was merged back into Sichuan in 1955.
2015
City status
Kangding county was converted into a county-level city.

Landmarks

Nature
Mount Paoma
跑马山 (Pǎomǎ Shān)
Hill above the town named in the Kangding Love Song, with a temple and meadows where horse races were held.
Temple or shrine
Nanwu Temple
南无寺 (Nánwú Sì)
Gelug monastery in the south of the town.
Temple or shrine
Jingang Temple
金刚寺 (Jīngāng Sì)
Nyingma monastery on the slopes south of the town.
Nature
Mugecuo
木格措 (Mùgécuò)
Alpine lake north of the town, with hot springs and forests in the valley below.
Nature
Mount Gongga
贡嘎山 (Gònggá Shān)
At 7,556 m the highest mountain in Sichuan, rising in the south of Kangding's territory.

Neighbourhoods

Lucheng
炉城 (Lúchéng)
The old town along the rivers, the site of the tea-trading houses.
Xinduqiao
新都桥 (Xīndūqiáo)
Town west of the Zheduo Pass in a wide valley of poplars and Tibetan houses.

Food

Butter tea
酥油茶 (sūyóu chá)
Made with the brick tea that once passed through the town.
Yak meat
牦牛肉 (máoniúròu)
Stewed, air-dried or in hotpot.
Tsampa
糌粑 (zānba)
Roasted barley flour eaten with butter tea.

Culture

Kangding is a meeting place of Han and Tibetan culture: Sichuanese is heard in the markets alongside Kham Tibetan, and both Buddhist monasteries and Han temples stand in the town. The Kangding Love Song, a folk melody of the region first published in the 1940s, made the town's name known throughout China. The Paoma Mountain festival on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the Buddha's birthday, brings horse races and gatherings.

Mountains and nature nearby

Getting around

Kangding Airport lies on the plateau west of the town at over 4,000 metres.
The Ya'an–Kangding expressway links the town with Chengdu; the Sichuan–Tibet highway (G318) continues west over the Zheduo Pass.
The Sichuan–Tibet railway is under construction through the region.

Day trips

Luding chain bridge
泸定桥 (Lúdìng Qiáo)
Iron-chain bridge over the Dadu River built in 1706, scene of a famous Red Army crossing in 1935.
Hailuogou
海螺沟 (Hǎiluó Gōu)
Glacier descending from Mount Gongga into forest, in Luding county.
Tagong grasslands
塔公草原 (Tǎgōng cǎoyuán)
High pasture with Tagong Monastery and views of the snow peak Yala.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture People's Government — Garzê Prefecture People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Sichuan Provincial People's Government — Sichuan Provincial People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Sichuan — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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