Hailuogou is a glacier valley on the eastern side of Mount Gongga in Luding county, western Sichuan, where a great icefall more than a kilometre high feeds a glacier whose tongue descends into subtropical and temperate forest. It is one of the lowest-reaching modern glaciers in Asia and the most accessible part of the Gongga massif.
- National nature reserve (Gongga Shan)
- National scenic area (Gongga Shan)
- National geopark
Key facts
- Glacier
- Hailuogou Glacier (No. 1)
- Great Icefall
- more than 1,000 m high[1]
- Parent peak
- Mount Gongga, 7,556 m
- Gateway town
- Moxi, Luding county
- Location
- Luding county, Garzê prefecture, Sichuan
Overview
The Hailuogou Glacier, known as Glacier No. 1, flows east from the snowfields below the main summit of Gongga. At its head a vast icefall — more than 1,000 metres high and about as wide — drops from the upper basin in a chaos of seracs, and avalanches from it can be heard and seen from the viewpoints opposite. Below the icefall the glacier continues as a long tongue covered in rock debris, ending at an altitude of below 3,000 metres among fir and rhododendron.
The valley combines glacier, old-growth forest and hot springs within a short distance and has become the main place where visitors see Gongga's ice at close range. The town of Moxi, on a terrace above the Dadu River gorge, is its gateway.
How the landscape formed
Hailuogou is a monsoonal temperate glacier. Moist air from the Sichuan Basin drops heavy snow on Gongga's eastern flank, and the glacier moves fast, carrying its ice far below the regional snowline into forest. The icefall marks where the ice spills over a steep bedrock step from the high basin into the valley. Lateral and terminal moraines, some colonised by pioneer forest within living memory, record the glacier's advances and retreats. Like most glaciers in the Hengduan Mountains, it has been retreating and thinning since the late nineteenth century, a trend scientists at the valley's long-term research station monitor. Hot springs along the valley rise along faults of the active Xianshuihe system.
Highlights
Great Icefall
大冰瀑布
The icefall at the head of Glacier No. 1, more than 1,000 metres high, one of the largest in China.
Glacier tongue
冰川舌
The debris-covered lower glacier, which ends among forest; its ice caves and meltwater outlet change from year to year.
View of the main summit
贡嘎主峰
On clear mornings, the pyramid of Gongga is visible above the head of the valley.
Hot springs
温泉
Natural springs in the lower valley, used for bathing since long before tourism.
Moxi old town
磨西古镇
The gateway town on a terrace above the Dadu River, with a Catholic church and old timber houses.
Plants and wildlife
Within a few kilometres the valley passes from subtropical broadleaf forest through mixed forest and subalpine fir to the ice, a vertical range that shelters many plants of the south-western Chinese mountains. Newly exposed moraine below the glacier is a natural laboratory for how forest colonises bare ground.
Plants
Faber's fir
峨眉冷杉
The dominant tree of the forest around the glacier tongue.
Rhododendrons
杜鹃
Many species, flowering from April to June at different altitudes.
Dove tree
珙桐
A relict tree of the lower mixed forest.
Wildlife
Red panda
小熊猫
Lives in the bamboo understorey of the forest.
Tibetan macaque
藏酋猴
Troops forage along the forest paths.
Blood pheasant
血雉
A bird of the high forest and scrub near the treeline.
Culture and legend
Luding county lies on the old route between Sichuan and Tibet, where Han, Tibetan and Yi communities meet. Moxi is best known for its part in the Long March: in May 1935 the Red Army passed through the town before its crossing of the Dadu River at the Luding chain bridge, and the leadership met in Moxi's Catholic church.
Moxi Catholic church
磨西天主教堂
A mission church built in the early twentieth century, remembered as a stop on the Long March.
Luding Bridge
泸定桥
The iron-chain bridge over the Dadu River built in 1706, seized by the Red Army in 1935.
History
1706
Luding chain bridge completed
The bridge secured the road from Sichuan to Kangding and the Tibetan lands.
May 1935
Long March passes through Moxi
The Red Army stopped in Moxi before the battle for Luding Bridge.
1980s
Research station and first visitors
The Chinese Academy of Sciences began long-term observation of the glacier and forest ecosystem, and the valley was opened to tourism.
5 September 2022
Luding earthquake
A magnitude-6.8 earthquake centred in Luding county caused deaths and damage in Moxi and the surrounding area; the valley was closed for repairs and later reopened.
Through the seasons
Spring
Rhododendrons and magnolias flower in the forest; the icefall is active and avalanches are frequent.
Summer
Warm in the lower valley and wet, with cloud often hiding the summit; high meltwater in the streams.
Autumn
The clearest season, with autumn colour in the forest and the best chances of seeing the main summit.
Winter
Snow in the upper valley and crisp, clear days; the hot springs are at their most welcome.
Routes and ways in
Valley road and cable car
The reserve's buses climb the valley road to the upper camps, and a cable car rises to a viewpoint opposite the Great Icefall.
Glacier tongue walk
Marked paths and boardwalks lead from the upper camps through forest to viewpoints over the glacier tongue; walking on the ice itself is only allowed where it is marked safe.
Moxi and the terrace
A walk through Moxi old town and along the terrace edge gives views into the Dadu gorge and, on clear days, towards the peaks.
Practical notes
- The viewpoints lie at about 3,000–3,600 metres; the altitude is moderate, but the weather changes fast and it is always cooler than in the lower valley.
- Rockfall and ice avalanches are real hazards: stay on marked paths and away from the glacier margins.
- The region is seismically active; heed closures after heavy rain or tremors.
- Moxi, reached by expressway from Ya'an and Chengdu, has most accommodation; Kangding lies to the north.
Cities to start from
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Gongga Mountain Alpine Ecosystem Observation and Experiment Station — Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture People's Government — Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Sichuan Provincial People's Government — Sichuan Provincial People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More mountains and nature in Sichuan
- Nature reserve · 6,032 mDaocheng Yading稻城亚丁Three sacred snow peaks of the Tibetan borderlands
- National parkGiant Panda National Park大熊猫国家公园One park for the panda's mountains across three provinces
- Nature reserve · 5,588 mHuanglong黄龙Terraced travertine pools below the snows of Xuebaoding
- Nature reserve · 4,752 mJiuzhaigou九寨沟Turquoise lakes and travertine falls in the Minshan mountains
- Sacred mountain · 3,099 mMount Emei峨眉山Samantabhadra's mountain above the sea of clouds
- Mountain · 7,556 mMount Gongga (Minya Konka)贡嘎山The highest peak of Sichuan and the eastern Tibetan Plateau's rim
- Sacred mountainMount Qingcheng青城山The secluded green mountain where Daoism took root
- Mountain · 6,250 mMount Siguniang四姑娘山Four snow peaks above the valleys of the Qionglai range
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