Sichuan's Tibetan Heartland Dege to Yading

Into the mountains to the Wolong reserve and the Shenshuping panda base, a breeding and research centre inside the UNESCO-listed Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries.

Then through the Balang Shan tunnel to Siguniang, the Four Sisters, whose highest peak, Yaomei, reaches 6,250 metres, with an afternoon walk in the Shuangqiao valley and, if the sky is clear, sunset on the peaks. Around 221 km and four hours of driving.

Down into the Danba valley, home of the Gyarong Tibetans, for Zhonglu, a village of stone houses, old watchtowers and orchards.

Then up onto the plateau to Tagong, whose monastery holds a statue of the Buddha said to be a companion to the Jowo in Lhasa, the Gyergo nunnery and a great field of carved mani stones, with sunset on Zhara Lhatse, 5,820 metres, if the sky is clear. Around 232 km and five hours of driving.

North along the old road to Tibet, past Kasa Lake near Luhuo, to Garze, the largest town of northern Kham and one of its great religious centres.

In Garze, a Chinese-style temple stands near the hilltop Garze Monastery of the Gelug school, where the monks usually debate in the courtyard in the late afternoon. Around 272 km and five hours of driving.

West past Dargye Monastery and the town of Manigango to Yilhun Lhatso, a glacial lake at around 4,040 metres below the snow peaks of the Chola range, its shore scattered with boulders carved with prayers, for a walk by the water.

Then over the mountains to Dege and its Parkhang, founded in 1729, where printers still ink wooden blocks by hand to print scriptures in the same way as three centuries ago. Nearby is Gengqing, the monastery of the old kings of Dege. Around 183 km and three hours of driving.

South to Hepo, known for generations of family knife-makers, then Maisu, a valley where Tibetan crafts are still passed down in family workshops: copper casting, wood carving, black pottery and thangka painting.

In the afternoon, Dzongsar Monastery, a great Sakya monastery associated with the non-sectarian movement of the 19th century, which also runs a Tibetan hospital, medicine workshop and medical school. The night is at a guesthouse in Maisu. Around 113 km and three hours of driving.

A morning at Pelyul, founded in 1665 and one of the great monasteries of the Nyingma school, with a view over its golden roofs from the hillside above.

In the afternoon, Yarchen Gar, a religious encampment in a river bend at around 4,000 metres, where practitioners, most of them nuns, live in small wooden huts for study and meditation. Access for foreign visitors depends on local permission, and if it is not possible we will plan an alternative visit. Around 205 km and five hours of driving.

South along road S314, a quiet route across the Youyi grasslands through the heart of the Hengduan Mountains, to Tsoka Lake, a small clear lake among rocks with a monastery of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions on its shore.

On to Litang, at around 4,014 metres one of the highest towns in the world, for Litang Monastery, founded in 1580 by the 3rd Dalai Lama, and the old house where the 7th Dalai Lama was born. Around 270 km and six hours of driving.

South over the high Haizi Shan plateau to Sangpi Ling, the great Gelug monastery of Xiangcheng, rich in murals, thangkas and carving.

The afternoon is spent in Qingde, where whitewashed Tibetan farmhouses stand out among the fields along the river, and at Buji, where a fortified family house said to be over 300 years old is now a small museum. Around 215 km and four hours of driving.

A beautiful drive along road S216 to Riwa, gateway to the Yading reserve. (Riwa is also known as Shangri-La Town, not to be confused with Shangri-La city in Yunnan.)

In the afternoon, by park bus into Yading to Chonggu Monastery, at around 3,900 metres, and a walk across Chonggu meadow to Pearl Lake below Chenresig, the northernmost of the three sacred peaks. Around 115 km and two hours of driving.

A full day in Yading, whose three peaks are named for bodhisattvas: Chenresig, 6,032 metres, and Jambeyang and Chana Dorje, 5,958 metres each. Park buses and trails lead to Luorong pasture, at around 4,150 metres, where the explorer Joseph Rock photographed the mountains in 1928.

For those with energy to spare, the trail climbs on to Milk Lake and Five-Colour Lake, at around 4,500 and 4,600 metres, a demanding extra four to five hours.

The long drive north through Daocheng, Litang and Yajiang to Xinduqiao, at around 3,460 metres, where the viewpoint above town looks across to Gongga Shan, 7,556 metres, on a clear evening. Around 417 km and seven hours on the road.

Over the Zheduo pass, at around 4,300 metres, to Kangding, the old tea-trading town and capital of the Garze Tibetan prefecture.

On to Luding and its iron chain bridge over the Dadu, built in 1705 and known too for a famous crossing by the Red Army in 1935, and back through Ya'an to Chengdu for a last night. Around 352 km and six hours on the road.

Transfer to Chengdu airport or railway station for your onward journey.