Litang is a major community in the Ganze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, of western Sichuan Province, China.   The town lies on the higher eastern edges of the great Tibetan Plateau. Its altitude is given as 4010 metres (13,150 feet) above sea level and thus is at an even greater altitude than Tibet’s capital of Lhasa (3658 metres/12,000 feet).  It is claimed that Litang County is the highest continuously inhabited district in the world.

    Altitude sickness is an issue, particularly in Lhasa where you generally arrive by aircraft and thus have no gradual acclimatization. The relatively long road approach to altitude in the case of Litang makes acclimatization much easier (you should also be prepared and take medication such as Diamox to assist the transition)

   During 1-7 August every year Litang  is host to a horse festival on the grassy plain to the south of town. In some years the festival is of shorter duration and the main activities take place in the first four days.  

    Tibetan families from near and far converge to meet, compete and have fun.  They take pride in showing off their decorated tents.   Many tents carry simple diagrams and pictures in black and white but many are beautifully decorated with intricate coloured pictures and diagrams often of a religious significance.

    The photograph above shows the tented plain from the south east with Litang in the distance and the remains of the old city boundary wall in the foreground.

Tibetan Tents At The

Litang Horse Festival

August 2006