Tagong Scenic Area (tǎ gōng jǐng qū 塔公景区) is located in Kangding County (kāng dìng xiàn 康定县), on the east of Ganzi Zang Autonomous Prefecture (gān zī cáng zú zì zhì zhōu 甘孜藏族自治州) of Sichuan Province (sì chuān shěng 四川省). Sichuan-Tibet national road (chuān zàng gōng lù 川藏公路) running through the scenic area, which makes the transportation convenient. The river, grassland, forest, mountain, temple and other architectures are with rich flavor of the Tibetan ethnic minority (zàng zú 藏族).

        
Tagong, means the place Buddha likes in Tibetan language. With a history of more than 1000 years, Tagong temple is one of the famous temples of Sakya (sà jiā pài 萨迦派). In the temple, there is a statue of Sakyamuni which is the same as the one in Jokhang Temple in Lhasa (lā sà 拉萨). It is said that if you cannot fulfill your pilgrimage to Lhasa, you can go to Tagong Temple, which will bring you the same merits and virtues. Therefore, Tagong Temple is regarded as the Small Jokhang Temple (xiǎo dà zhāo sì 小大昭寺). Besides, there are many valuable Buddhist relics in the temple, all of them are with a long history of more than 1000 years. Around the temple, there are a large quantities of pagoda, which is splendid.

  
In summer and autumn, the Tagong Grassland (tǎ gōng cǎo yuán 塔公草原) presents picturesque scenery. On the green grassland, all kinds of wild flowers are blooming. In the morning, the smoke curls up from kitchen chimneys of the herdsmen’s tilts. The fragrance of the milk and tea wafts up from the kitchen. After milking the cow, herdsmen pasture the cows and sheep to the far end of the grassland, singing beautiful songs. Every year, the government will hold horse racing meeting. Herdsmen are dressed up, get together in Tagong from far and near. The running horse, adventurous performance and the cheering will bring you great joy.

Yalashen Mountain (yǎ lā shén shān 雅拉神山), rising abruptly out of the grassland, is lofty and spectacular. The mountain is covered with white snow all the year round, against with the wide green grassland and magnificent Tagong Temple.

Tagong Scenic Area
Location: 110 kilometers away from Kangding County
Admission fee: CNY 20
Opening hours: 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Transportation: you can take bus in Kangding to get Tagong Scenic Area