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Trekking / Minya Konka group trek
Small group · fixed departures
Nine days walking the classic circuit around Gongga Shan — over two high passes, past a climber's glacier lake and to the monastery under the summit — with porters, horses and a full camp crew carrying the load.
Ask about this itineraryThe big mountains above the moraine · the north side of the range
Riuqi Pass, on the hardest and finest day
tents with a cook crew; hotels and a monastery the rest
international trekkers only
porters and packhorses move the camp
Why this route
Gongga Shan — Minya Konka, 7,556 metres, the highest mountain east of the Himalaya — is not climbed by visitors; it is walked around. This is that circuit: up the quiet north side through the Riuqi valley where the trail reaches 4,850 metres, down past the glacier lake at the foot of 6,112-metre Reddomain, across to the west side for Langgatso, the lake that frames the whole range, and out via Gongga Gompa, the monastery that has served as base camp to every expedition since the 1930s.
The trek is worked as a supported camp trip. You carry a day pack; porters and packhorses move tents and food; a cook crew puts dinner and breakfast on the table at 4,000 metres. Five nights are under canvas, two in village guesthouses, one in a monastery.
It runs as a join-in group on fixed dates, priced per person — the affordable way into a trek that would cost several times more privately. Days can be moved for weather or access, but the core of the range is always covered.
The route
West from Chengdu to Kangding, then a full circuit of the north and west sides of the mountain, and home. Three tents, three villages, one monastery.
Day by day
Five nights under canvas. Each day lists the distance, the altitude and the pace — the two pass days are the ones to train for.
Chengdu → Kangding
Three to four hours on the 2018 expressway to Kangding, then straight up to the Yajiageng pass for an acclimatisation walk by the lake — the aim is to sleep well after a couple of hours at 4,000 metres, not to strain anything.
The evening is free in Kangding, a Tibetan-Chinese town with a river through the middle of it. The night at 2,600 metres is the first rung of the acclimatisation ladder.
Kangding → Liangcha
Forty minutes to the road head above the village of Laoyulin, where the porter team and packhorses join. From there the trail follows the river up through pine forest, past a red-rock slide and out into open views; camp sits at Liangcha, 3,850 metres.
You carry your own day pack — lunch, water, warm layer, waterproofs. Everything else goes on the horses. The first camp night is short and the pace is set for acclimatisation.
Liangcha → Upper Riuqi
A gentler day up the Riuqi valley to its head — a flat, wind-scoured pasture at 4,250 metres with the whole wall of the range in front of it: Little Konka, Jiazi, Grosvenor, Reddomain. No road has ever entered this valley; everything in it arrived on foot or by hoof.
It is one of the finest camp positions of the trek, and deliberately short: tomorrow is the biggest day.
Over the Riuqi Pass
The hardest and most beautiful day. From the glacier lake below 6,112-metre Reddomain — a climber's base camp — the trail climbs to the Riuqi Pass at 4,850 metres, the top of the trek, with the south-side peaks named and visible in a single panorama.
The pass must be crossed before the afternoon weather; the descent on the far side reaches camp near the Reddomain glacier at about 4,200 metres. Eighteen kilometres, and worth every one of them.
Reddomain → Yulongxi
An early start for the dawn light on the peaks, then up and over the Yulongxi Pass at 4,500 metres and down to the Yulongxi valley — a line of summits from Daddomain to Gongga Shan itself along the way.
The night is a guesthouse in the village at 4,000 metres: a bed, a roof, and the first food not cooked at a altitude of 4,000 since Kangding.
Langgatso → Gongga Gompa
Two halves. The morning climbs from 4,000 metres to Langgatso at 4,500 — the small holy lake that mirrors the whole west face of the range, and the best photography of the trek. Horses can carry you up if the legs say no.
The afternoon drives to Zimei village and climbs through prayer flags to Gongga Gompa at 3,750 metres, the Kagyupa monastery that has watched over every expedition to the mountain. Sunset turns the main summit gold directly above the monastery roof.
Gongga base camp
A full day out and back up the valley behind the monastery, following the glacier stream to the base camp below the mountain at 4,200 metres — the closest approach to Gongga Shan on the trek, with the ice of the mountain's flank filling the head of the valley.
The trail is loose underfoot; poles and steady knees earn their keep. Blue sheep are often on the crags, and on rare days a red panda in the scrub. It is the biggest physical day after the pass.
Over Zimei Pass → Xinduqiao
Three hours down to Zimei village, then local transport over the Zimei Pass — the panorama point for the full west face — and by village roads to Shangmuju, onward to modern roads, and a hotel in Xinduqiao by evening.
A short walking day and a long driving one, ending at 3,400 metres with proper beds and a last night in the mountains.
Xinduqiao → Chengdu
Six to seven hours back to Chengdu with a lunch stop, arriving at your hotel in the late afternoon. The tour ends there — or connects to whatever comes next.
Along the way
The mountain's north side is working wildlife country — herders' ground, not a park — and the animals keep their own hours.
Riuqi valley · the passes · the gompa valley
Blue sheep are almost routine on the base camp day and around the gompa. Red panda live in the valley scrub — trekkers meet one perhaps a season, not a week.
Chances are field estimates for the season, not promises. The trek is above 3,500 metres throughout and the animals are wild.
Fixed departures
The join-in group runs on set dates from May to November 2027 — chosen for the trekking seasons and away from the very busiest weeks. One price, an early-booking rate, and no more than eight to a group.
| Departs | Per person | Choose a departure |
|---|---|---|
| 24 May–1 Jun 2027 | CNY 8,2007,600 60 days ahead | |
| 22–30 Jun 2027 | CNY 8,2007,600 60 days ahead | |
| 21–29 Jul 2027 | CNY 8,2007,600 60 days ahead | |
| 21–29 Aug 2027 | CNY 8,2007,600 60 days ahead | |
| 21–29 Sep 2027 | CNY 8,2007,600 60 days ahead | |
| 21–29 Oct 2027 | CNY 8,2007,600 60 days ahead | |
| 21–29 Nov 2027 | CNY 8,2007,600 60 days ahead |
If none of these dates fit, ask anyway — the same circuit runs privately on your dates. How that works
What's included
A supported camping trek: the mountain logistics — horses, crew, food on the mountain — are in the price.
Arranged and paid for before you arrive.
An English-speaking trekking guide
With you from Chengdu to Chengdu.
Porters and packhorses
The camp moves; you carry a day pack.
Tents and sleeping mats
Plus a cook crew and all dinners and breakfasts on trek.
Tickets and permits
Everything on the route, arranged ahead.
Hotel nights and transfers
Three hotel nights twin share with breakfast, and every transfer on the route.
Yours, or yours to ask us about.
Lunches
On trek there is nowhere to buy food — bring snacks from Chengdu; the departure pack list explains.
Chengdu hotels and meals
The nights at either end are yours to book.
Personal gear
Sleeping bag and boots; bags and dry bags can be rented.
Single room or tent
CNY 960 where a single is wanted or pairing is not possible.
Tips and personal expenses
At your discretion.
A full packing list follows confirmation. The route may flex with the season, but the core of the range is always covered.
Enquiry
Tell us which departure you are looking at and how many of you there are. We will come back with availability, the trek notes and a written outline.
Read next: The Gongga in-depth trek · The self-supported Konka trek · The Riwuqi trek, 4 days · Five ways to walk Minya Konka · Where you sleep, from park hotels to a monastery floor · A day on the trek, hour by hour
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