The sixth Dalai Lama once wrote in a poem,"The cranes in the sky, can you lend me a pair of your white wings to fly, I won’t fly away, return from Litang I will say."

In the 18th century, the sixth Dalai Lama linked his next life closely with Litang with this poem. Litang is a dreamed place to visit for lots of travelers.

▲ A bird-view of Litang

Surrounded by mountains, the plateau city Litang welcomes its best season in July and August with green grasslands and water-filled winding streams. On the ocean-like lush grassland, the annual horse-racing festival will be held as scheduled.

As the Tibetan proverb says, “A flat grassland is the best place for racing horses, while the backs of galloping horses test real heroes“. In the nomadic area, almost every households have several horses. For a long time, the nomads have shown their deep love of horses in horse-racing activities.

▲ A Khampa man and his cherished horse

▲ An eager horse

▲ Horsemen ready for thousands of horses galloping together

ApandaTour team went to Litang which is famous for its horse racing. On the Duowang grasslands, we watched Khampa men riding on their galloping horses, and graceful Tibetan girls dancing traditional Tibetan dances. Besides that, we also watched bonfire dance, horse acrobatics, and the show of Khampa men.

▲ Tibetan Opera

▲ Bonfire Tibetan dance

▲ Tibetans sit on the grassland, chatting while drinking yak-butter tea

It was drizzling on the day of the horse racing. From the burning stove on the grassland, smokes rose in curves into the sky. Among the crowds, the most distinctive ones were the horsemen in colorful Tibetan costumes. They decorated with horses with red flowers on the head, hanging a bell on the neck and saddle with various colorful ornaments. With the sound of starting order, they all dash out.

▲ Preparation before horse-racing

▲ Ready and go

▲ Hundreds of galloping horses

Litang Horse-racing Festival is not only an important occasion for showing horse-riding skills and a grand show of Khampa Tibetan costumes. There are Tibetan boys and girls coming from distant Tibetan areas such as Yushu of Qinghai province, and Danba Meirengu, showing their best and the most elegant costumes here.

▲ Beautiful Tibetan Girls

▲ Handsome Khampa Tibetan Men

▲ Cute Tibetan Girl

What we have got from Litang Horse-racing Festival is not just a visual feast but also a chance to know Tibetan culture at a close distance. Though this is only a small part of nature and culture in the Khampa Tibetan area, we can discover more natural wonders and colorful ethnic culture in other Khampa Tibetan areas.

Explore Tibetan nature and culture, we are on the way, looking forward to traveling with you.