Yadong, means“deep valley of rushing streams”in Tibetan.

This wedge-shaped land extending southward between India and Bhutan. It was an important passage on the southern route of the Tea Horse Road and carries memories of patriotic struggles forged in blood and fire.

In recent years, Yadong County in Xigaze City has set its sights on becoming a renowned tourism county, building a striking brand image of "three countries in one view, picturesque in all four seasons, colorful Yadong." It has made cultural tourism a pillar industry, carefully planned tourist routes, developed diverse travel experience products, and driven high-quality growth in the cultural tourism sector. In the first half of this year, the county received nearly 140,000 tourist visits and generated comprehensive tourism revenue of 75.58 million yuan.

From north to south, Yadong County has an elevation difference of nearly 3,000 meters. This huge elevation drop creates its phenomenon of“one mountain, four seasons; a short distance, a different sky.”

The approximately 7,400-meter-high Mount Chomolhari stands for millions of years, and below it, the Dochen TsoNational Wetland Park is a habitat for wildlife; the Pagri Grassland transforms into a“five-colored meadow”in summer, with wildflowers of all colors spreading to the horizon; heading south, the Upper Yadong and Lower Droma areas are coniferous forest belts, evergreen throughout the four seasons; reaching Pangda Village at the southernmost tip, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests are dense.

“Scenery is given by nature, but how to let tourists see it, step into it, and stay—that tests people’s efforts,”said Chen Hongying, deputy manager of Xizang Zhuomu Tourism Management Co., Ltd. To this end, Yadong County has successively implemented six projects including the Kangbu Hot Spring Health Tourism Demonstration Base, implemented three projects including the cultural comprehensive activity base with support from Shanghai's aid to Xizang, and established the county-owned state-owned enterprise Xizang Zhuomu Tourism Management Co., Ltd. In the past three years, nearly 100 million yuan has been invested in renovating and upgrading scenic area infrastructure.

At the same time, Yadong adopts a“big opening, small closure”model, organizing tours in a unified way; it launched the“Yadong Culture and Tourism Pass”WeChat mini-program, covering functions such as scenic spot reservations, scenic spot introductions, travel guides, and cultural and creative product purchases. Next to the tourist center 3.5 kilometers from the county seat, a self-driving camping base is open free of charge 24 hours a day, with complete water and electricity facilities, equipped with a self-service car wash area, laundry area, kitchen, shower rooms, and charging piles to meet tourists’various needs and enhance the tourism experience. With the foundation laid, Yadong began working on product stratification and route expansion. Targeting the pain points of plateau tourism, Yadong plays the“winter wellness”card of Kangbu Hot Spring: 12 springs are rich in various minerals and flow year-round, unaffected by season; combined with the autonomous-region-level intangible cultural heritage Tibetan medical hot spring bathing method, self-driving tourists coming to soak in the hot springs are endless, often staying for more than a week, with annual retail sales reaching 3 million yuan.

At present, Yadong County has a total of 6 A-level tourist attractions, has created self-driving routes such as“Romantic Yadong, Four Seasons Journey,”as well as the Danbagang hiking route, and launched the“Baxia Border Area One-Day Tour”tourism route. 

It is worth noting that these developments have always adhered to one bottom line—the ecological bottom line must never be destroyed. Taking the Savage Valley boardwalk as an example, the project is advanced in conjunction with forest fire prevention tasks, with fire-fighting equipment storage rooms set up every few hundred meters, which not only meets tourism sightseeing needs but also fills the shortcomings of fire prevention infrastructure,“one investment, two functions”, finding a balance between development and protection within the scope allowed by policy.

If natural scenery is Yadong’s“appearance,”culture is its“temperament.”

Yadong has a solid foundation of intangible cultural heritage—traditional archery, lion and peacock dance, Kangbu Guori Baiduo dance, Tibetan medical hot spring bathing method, and others are unique. As of now, the county has 19 intangible cultural heritage items at all levels.

Intangible cultural heritage must come alive and cannot rely only on display. Yadong has taken multiple measures, providing customized assistance according to each inheritor's needs, helping them find sales channels, build platforms, and do promotion, bringing intangible cultural heritage into tourist attractions and among the people, turning it into experienceable and consumable products.

Gyeruclay sculpture in Yadong County is a municipal-level intangible cultural heritage of Xigaze and also a second batch“Xizang Time-Honored Brand.”The Gyeru Clay Sculpture Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Center on Binhe Road Pedestrian Street in the county seat is particularly eye-catching.“The location here is good, and the rent is not expensive,”said inheritor Dorje Tsering.“Products can be displayed and sold, which is very convenient.”

The 78-year-old elder Dradulis a representative inheritor of the autonomous-region-level intangible cultural heritage project“Yadong Traditional Archery.”When village activities are held, he actively tells tourists about the history of Yadong traditional archery and teaches them how to operate.“When hearts think in one place and efforts go in one direction, the arrow will not deviate. This is the same principle as our various ethnic groups being one family.”

Cultural creativity is an economic force flowing with cultural blood. Yadong precisely supports the development of characteristic industries such as rural tourism and ethnic handicrafts, developing a series of cultural and creative products such as long-tailed langur plush toys, border-patrol stone paintings, themed night lights, and embroidery, allowing local culture to be spread and shared, with sales reaching more than 600,000 yuan since 2025.

In addition, Yadong also stimulates tourism consumption through cultural activities such as artistic performances. In 2025, during the“Earth’s Joyful Songs, Rural Seasons”artistic activity, border village residents, as performers, went to the county seat and scenic areas to carry out“art + bonfire”themed activities, directly driving 134 people to increase income by more than 200,000 yuan.

As tourism thrives, people’s pockets bulge along with it.

Pangda Village is the most typical example. This border village aided by Shanghai develops agriculture and border tourism industries according to local conditions. By operating homestays and enriching cultural and creative products, it enables people to earn a living from tourism and embark on a path of prospering the border right at their doorstep. The per capita disposable income of the people has increased year by year, reaching 27,300 yuan in 2025.“With more popularity, our business is easier to do,”said Tsering Dolkar, a homestay owner in Pangda Village, with a smile.“We will continuously improve service quality and attract more tourists to come to Yadong, understand Yadong, and fall in love with Yadong.” 

Reporters: Yang Zijun, Hu Rongguo, Tezin Namse, Wang Li, Tenzin Gawa, Tsegyi

Translator: Dan Zhen, Zhi Xinghua

First Review: Zhi Xinghua, Zhang Yiming

Second Review: Li Chengye, Drakpa Wangchen

Third Review: Hu Rongguo