Ngawa

Ngawa Overview

Chinese Name: 阿坝藏族羌族自治州 English IPA: /əˈbɑː/ Location: Northwestern Sichuan Population: 0.9346 million Language: Khams Tibetan, Mandarin, Qiangic languages Zip code: 624000 Tel code: +86(0837) Time zone: UTC+8

Aba(Ngawa) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, is located in northwestern Sichuan province of China, bordering Gansu to the north and northeast and Qinghai to the northwest. It is the second largest inhabited region of Tibetan and the main settlement of Qiang people, which covers an area of 83,201 kilometers. With complex topography and and diverse climates, it is endowed with a unique geographical landscape and is hailed as one of the best destination for ecotourism by the world tourism experts. The organic combination of the heartbreaking natural scenery and the distinctive ethnic culture offers Ngawa prefecture abundant and world-class tourism resources, including the UNESCO world natural Heritages Jiuzhaigou Valley and Huanglong(Yellow Dragon) Scenic Area, national scenic area Four Maiden’s Mountain, Wolong and Zoige Wetlands National Nature Reserves, as well as National cultural attraction Zhuokeji Tusiguan Village with distinctive folklore characteristics of Tibetan and Qiang people. Besides, it retains certain animals and plants extinct elsewhere, such as Panda bears, dove trees and other living fossils.

Highlights:

  • UNESCO World Natural Heritages: Among the five UNESCO world natural Heritages, there are three in this area, namely Jiuzhaigou Valley, Huanglong(Yellow Dragon) Scenic Area and Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries- Wolong National Nature Reserves.
  • Ethnic Culture: Aba Prefecture is the second largest inhabited region of Tibetan and the main settlement of Qiang people. For thousands of years, a whole lot of Chinese ethnic groups had left abundant culture accumulations and unique ethnical customs to this land.
  • Biotic Resources: Beside Panda bears, there are also many other rare animals and plant like dove trees and black-necked crane in this unique geographical environment.

Notice: On August 8, 2017, Jiuzhai Valley was severely damaged by a strong earthquake. Since August 9, 2017, it was temporarily closed and estimated to reopen in 2020. We kindly remind you not to visit Jiuzhai Valley during this period of time.

Hot Destinations in Ngawa

Other Destinations in Ngawa

Ngawa Attractions

Being reputed as the Last undeveloped Traveling Gold Mine in the World, Aba Prefecture boasts a multitude of tourism resources due to its peculiar geographic environment, among which the most famous Jiuzhai Valley, Huanglong(Yellow Dragon) Scenic Area and Wolong Natural Protection Area are listed as the UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites. What’s more, Four Maiden's Mountain, Zoige Wetlands, Dagu Glacier, etc are also the most attractive scenery of the area. [...]

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Ngawa Tours

The amazing and bountiful Aba, about 400km away from Chengdu city, is the kingdom of tourism with numerous and high-grade tourism resources. You can start your unforgettable Aba tour to the most famous and attractive Jiuzhaigou Valley and Huanglong National Park. Or you can try to conquer Four Maiden's Mountain, the second highest mountain in Sichuan Province. Also you can visit some villages in Aba, to appreciate the ethnic culture of locals. All of your dreams about [...]

Climate & When to Go

Climate Aba prefecture has a complex climate due to its complicated geography and landform. The temperature decreases from southeast to northwest with the the rising of elevation. So Aba is characterized by apparent continental plateau climate in the northwestern tableland area, sub-humid climate in the mountain plateau, and vertical climate in the alpine valleys. The northwestern tableland area has a continental plateau climate with long chilly winter and cool & wet summer. There is no remarkable differences in temperature between the four seasons. The annual [...]

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Transportation

Lying along the southeastern frontier of the Qinghai-Tibetan, Aba Prefecture has a limited transportation due to local geography. Two airports serve visitors to Aba respectively. Coach is the most convenient and common way to access Aba. Trains are not available at present. How to Get There & Away By Air There are two airports in Aba Prefecture, Jiuhuang (Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong) Airport in the east and Hongyuan airport in the west, both of which only have flights to Chengdu. So the best way is to get to [...]

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Festivals and Activities

Festivals have always been an important part in Aba ethnic culture. As a hot tourism destination, Aba festivals and activities attract thousands of visitors coming to this wonderland. Here we introduce some popular festivals in Aba to you. International Panda Festival (Every August) Sichuan is the main habitat of giant pandas, which are the symbol of Sichuan tourism. Every year in August, a grand festival is kicked off in Aba Prefecture. Besides evening performance of Tibetans and Qiang people, there are beer [...]

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Travel Tips

Aba(Ngawa) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, situate in northwest of Sichuan Province, is a ethnic prefecture of Sichuan Province. There are Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong and other world natural heritages. It is regarded as the world's best ecotourism destination by world tourism experts. Also, it was selected as "The Top 200 China Special Charming City of 2012". To ensure you a stirring visit to your heart’s content, we offer you some useful information and travel tips. Post Offices: Zip Code: 624000 There are many post offices in Aba [...]

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Useful Maps

There are many scenic spots in Aba prefecture, but they are relatively scattered. To help you know more about Aba and plan a wonderful trip, here we provide some useful maps related to Aba, such as map of Aba showing where Aba located on the map of China, map of attractions showing the main scenic spots in Aba, map of transportation telling how to get to and get around, etc. [...]

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Ngawa Accommodation

With abundant spectacular landscapes and profound ethnic cultures, Aba prefecture is a popular destination with a multitude of hotels. Almost every county has a range of hotels and guest house, from star hotels to family hotels. Most star hotels are distributed around scenic spots such as Jiuzhai Valley and Huanglong. And the family hotels are relatively cheap, what’s more, it is a good place to experience the local unique feeling of Tibetan and Qiang people. Here we list some recommended [...]

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