| Zhada, which means in Tibetan "the place where
there are grass in the lower reaches of river", is a County under the
administration of Nagri Prefecture. Famous Tuolin Monastery and relic
Guge Kingdom stand there. Entering into Zhada County, the clay forest
standing on both sides of Elephant Spring River wind over more than five
kilometers. Some clay are like the warrior defending the mountain top,
some like thousands of horses galloping, and some like devout followers
of a religion cultivating themselves, standing there quietly. From
different view, you can get different wonderful scenery.
The clay forest is called in Geology "the Level Terrane Physiognomy",
which is formed by erosion of water. It is the sediment stratum of lakes
and rivers, mainly composed by sandstone and clay. Because the Level
Terrane is easy to develop its upright quality and the sandstone like
flour is qualified with uprightness, the valley is deep. Even a
canaliculus can reach 100 to 200 meters.
The orogenic movement of the Himalaya has made the bottom of the lake
ascend. And the undulating earthen forest of dozens of kilometers were
formed by the flushing of water subsidence and long years of weathering
. Walking in these narrow earthen forests as if a walk in the ruins of
an ancient kingdom, desolate but magnificent.
This peculiar and mystic physiognomy densely cover the whole Zhada
County. During the Xiangxiong and Guge Kingdom, people made caves to
live using this kind of natural resource. Now, more than 400 caves made
by Tibetan forebears are found in the clay forest, which forms the the
old building group.
How to get there: It takes a dozen hours from Shiquanhe to the earthen
forests and the trip covers 255 kilometers. You can hire a car to go and
back for three or four days and daily cost is 800 Yuan. The earthen
forests are close to the Zanda County seat. It can be reached on foot
from the county seat.
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Zhada Clay Forest 