Abuji Tso New Route: 28km Pasture and Lake Overview
Gallery: photographs and travel illustrations
Use these views to compare the settings on the route. Illustrative images are identified in their individual notes. Your confirmed itinerary sets out guiding, visits and included activities.
- Original regional scenery illustration for Vero Trip. This image does not document the exact checkpoint, trail condition, access permission, facilities, snow cover or included services. Built-in image generation; prompts and original output paths recorded in the Abuji batch workspace.
- Original regional scenery illustration for Vero Trip. This image does not document the exact checkpoint, trail condition, access permission, facilities, snow cover or included services. Built-in image generation; prompts and original output paths recorded in the Abuji batch workspace.
- Original regional scenery illustration for Vero Trip. This image does not document the exact checkpoint, trail condition, access permission, facilities, snow cover or included services. Built-in image generation; prompts and original output paths recorded in the Abuji batch workspace.
- Original regional scenery illustration for Vero Trip. This image does not document the exact checkpoint, trail condition, access permission, facilities, snow cover or included services. Built-in image generation; prompts and original output paths recorded in the Abuji batch workspace.
- Original regional scenery illustration for Vero Trip. This image does not document the exact checkpoint, trail condition, access permission, facilities, snow cover or included services. Built-in image generation; prompts and original output paths recorded in the Abuji batch workspace.
Overview
Route reference — no current departures on the Xilianpen Pass approach. The September 2026 Diqing notice restricts this approach. The landscape and route outline below are provided for comparison and future planning, not as a currently operating hike.
The longer Abuji Tso approach is usually described as a 28km return journey through a succession of alpine pastures to the lake area. Its appeal is the changing mountain landscape: forest margins, open grazing country and the sparse vegetation of the upper mountain. The distance demands a different commitment from the shorter old route, even when a photograph makes the ground look gentle.
Route sequence: Xilianpen Pass (洗脸盆垭口) → First Pasture (一号牧场) → Second Pasture (二号牧场) → Third Pasture (三号牧场) → Snowline Camp (雪线营地) → Abuji Tso (阿布吉措). The 28km figure refers to the reported return outing, not a 28km one-way walk. Checkpoint names are local identifiers; this overview is not a navigation track.
All landscape images on this page are travel illustrations. They convey mountain environments and do not document the named checkpoints, their current condition or any facilities.
YOUR JOURNEY
Route Map
Follow the itinerary in travel order.
Route schematic; not to scale or for navigation. See the Daily Itinerary for individual visits, optional activities and access conditions.
The landscapes along the new route
Xilianpen Pass · 洗脸盆垭口
The pass names the approach described here. Before any future trip, the important question is whether this exact entrance and route have been formally reopened. A different name for a nearby road or a seller’s “new line” does not resolve that question. The cover is a regional mountain-pass illustration, not a photograph of the entrance.
First Pasture · 一号牧场
The first pasture marks the start of the numbered sequence. It is a useful point for understanding how much of the reported distance remains, rather than treating the first open meadow as almost the lake. Any future itinerary should leave enough time for pauses and the full return.
Second Pasture · 二号牧场
Keep the numbered pasture names together with their Chinese wording when discussing a route. Similar English translations can refer to different stopping points. A future lunch or rest arrangement needs a confirmed location; a pasture name alone does not establish a café, drinking-water supply or toilet.
Third Pasture · 三号牧场
The longer middle section is part of the attraction for people interested in open mountain scenery. It also consumes daylight and energy before the upper section. Treat clear weather as a chance to appreciate the landscape, not a reason to extend a day beyond the agreed return margin.
Snowline Camp · 雪线营地
This is the name supplied for a checkpoint. It does not promise a staffed camp, a bed, a warm meal or snow at a particular time of year. Those are separate questions. No overnight camping arrangement is included in this route reference.
Abuji Tso · 阿布吉措
The lake area is the scenic focus, but a lake-edge destination and a high viewpoint above it can produce different total distances. Any reopened itinerary would need to specify which is the actual turnaround point. Reaching the destination would still leave the return journey.
Duration, transport and services
Public descriptions have marketed this as a long day outing. The catalogue’s one-day format is a reference outline only; no departure, walking time or return to town is confirmed here. Transport, guide language, food, equipment, admission, personal insurance and emergency assistance have not been packaged or priced. There is no assumed vehicle shortcut, motorcycle transfer or open campsite.
Price on request after access and service arrangements are established. Please use Plan My Trip for an available Shangri-La alternative. We do not offer to arrange entry to a restricted approach.
Read before choosing an Abuji route
Compare the 28km and 12km routes · Fitness, altitude and packing · Season and photography planning
Access information reviewed on 28 October 2026: Diqing protected-area visitor notice.
Daily Itinerary
Reference outline only; no operating departure is offered. The reported sequence runs from Xilianpen Pass through First, Second and Third Pastures and Snowline Camp to Abuji Tso, followed by the return. The total is approximately 28km, with the exact turnaround still important to that figure. This is not a timed itinerary or permission to enter the restricted approach.
Stay: no accommodation included. Meals: not included or arranged. Transport and guiding: no service confirmed. For a future reopened route, these arrangements and the complete return plan would need to be established before a quotation or departure.