Gannan's Hidden Wonders: the Rock Road

Gannan is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit.
Last year, I was wondering what to do over the National Day holiday when I suddenly thought, why not go to Gannan? The whole trip took about five days, starting in Xi’an, winding through Gannan, and finishing in Lanzhou before heading home. Here’s our full route.

    After a quick bowl of noodles in Xi’an, we set off on our Gannan adventure.

    Our first stop was Min County. We’d left fairly late in the afternoon, so it was nearly two in the morning by the time we arrived, and we hurried off to bed. Early the next morning, we spotted a sign across from our hotel that read “China’s Angelica Capital,” and only then learned that Min County produces a lot of angelica root. Where there’s a market, there’s bound to be good food nearby, and sure enough, we had a lovely meal at a little noodle-piece shop. That bowl of noodles really hit the spot. Honestly, if I get the chance, I absolutely have to go back for another taste.

I even filmed them pinching off the noodle pieces.

    After that lovely bowl of noodles, we set off for the main event of this trip: the Rock Road. Just over a hundred kilometers long, it’s known as “China’s most beautiful hundred kilometers,” with meadows, snow-capped mountains, forests, and more along the way.

    Not long after we entered the Rock Road, we could already see alpine meadows in the distance. They were ridiculously beautiful.

    As we ventured farther in, one of the Rock Road’s signature landscapes gradually came into view: a forest of peaks, like “stone needles” pointing straight into the sky. Quite a commanding sight. And of course, there were hillsides full of lamb skewers on legs, hahaha.

    On a road just over a hundred kilometers long, we somehow spent six or seven hours stuck in traffic. The power of the National Day holiday really is not to be underestimated! We finally made it to Zoige County before midnight, grabbed a quick meal, and went to bed. When I woke up the next day and drew the curtains, I saw a herd of cattle leisurely grazing outside. At that moment, I felt this room was worth every penny.

    At dinner the night before, I’d noticed that the flavors were a little different, with just a touch more heat. Only after checking the map did I realize we’d already crossed into Sichuan. This area sits at the meeting point of Sichuan, Gansu, and Qinghai. In the morning, we spotted quite a few Tibetan restaurants nearby and excitedly decided to give one a try.

Click to use the same photo collage tool:https://img.ops-coffee.cn/photo/

    The Tibetan food was pretty good, especially the Tibetan yogurt in the middle of the photo. It had such a rich texture that we ordered several bowls in a row, hahaha. Amusingly, a tabby cat kept snuggling up beside us while we ate, looking perfectly content.

    After the meal, we spotted a pickup truck outside the Tibetan restaurant covered in colorful khatas. It looked especially festive and auspicious.

    We continued on our way toward Xiahe County, with grasslands lining most of the route. But these grasslands were quite different from those in Xinjiang: in the distance, you could always see wooded mountains and scattered rocks, like a rugged, vast oil painting. By October, most of the grass had already turned yellow, with only the strips beside the streams holding on to their last traces of lush green.

    By this point, we’d covered about half our route. Traffic jams aside, the scenery was beyond reproach. Every now and then, an unexpected little delight on either side of the road would make you stop the car and quietly take it all in. At least so far, the trip had absolutely been worth it.