Photo shows the white Tibetan houses in Xiangcheng County. (Photo/Yue Yitong) 

Xiangcheng County sits in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province along Shangri-La circular tour line. It borders Yunnan’s Shangri-La in the south and Daocheng Yading tourism scenic spot in the east. 

Xiangcheng is rich in tourism resources, like Samphel Monastery, “crazy costume” and white Tibetan houses.  

The full name of Samphel Monastery is Ganden Samphel Norbuling Monastery, meaning “a monastery of fulfilling all the wishes”. Covering an area of over 2,000 square meters and enjoying a history of 400 years, Samphel Monastery gets reputation by its art in architecture, sculpture and painting. 

Photo shows the view of Samphel Monastery. (Photo/Yue Yitong)   

Photo shows the view of the main hall of Samphel Monastery. (Photo/Yue Yitong) 

“Crazy costume” is Xiangcheng women’s traditional costume, which came into being when Princess Wencheng married Songtsen Gampo and took shape during the period of Naxi Tusi Mu’s reign. 

“Crazy costume” is evolved from Naxi women’s knee skirts. It is characterized by its 108 layers. 

Photo shows the view of Samphel Monastery. (Photo/Yue Yitong)  

Photo shows women wearing “crazy costume”. (Photo/Yue Yitong) 

Photo shows Xiangcheng women wearing “crazy costume” and Xiangcheng men in Tibetan costume. (Photo/Yue Yitong) 

Xiangcheng people’s residences are white Tibetan houses of civil structure, whose outer walls are angled-in and interior walls are vertical.  

Every year, Xiangcheng people pour local white slurry from the top of the wall until it is white, which not only makes the wall beautiful and rainproof, but also can pray for auspiciousness and happiness. 

Featured white Tibetan houses in Xiangcheng (Photo/Yue Yitong) 

Photo shows a Buddhist reading a book. (Photo/Yue Yitong)