Gambo Tibetan Village - Taoping Qiang Village Scenic Area

Gambo Tibetan Village - Taoping Qiang Village Scenic Area

The Gambo Tibetan Village - Taoping Qiang Village Scenic Area is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, a Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit, and a patriotic education base.

Gambo Tibetan Village is a Tibetan settlement in Gambo Qiang Township, Li County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Traveling from Chengdu via the world-renowned Dujiangyan towards Jiuzhaigou, it is approximately 185 kilometers to reach the village. "Gambo" means "village on the mountainside" in Tibetan. Since ancient times, the entire Tibetan region has referred to Gambo as "Gambo Jiagong," meaning "a large village of a hundred households." Gambo has a long history, dating back about 2,500 years. According to local Tibetan elders, from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Jin Dynasty, it was part of Weizhou. Aba was one of the nomadic areas of the Qiang people; during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it belonged to the Tuyuhun Kingdom. During the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Songtsen Gampo dispatched a large army that engaged in fierce battles around Songzhou (now Songpan), occupying the region. At that time, the area around Gambo was a fiercely contested battleground. Later, internal fragmentation occurred in Tibet, and most did not return to Tibet but stayed and integrated with the Qiang people, reproducing through generations to become the Jiarong Tibetans of today. During the Ming Dynasty, the Tusi system was implemented, and Gambo belonged to the territory of the Zagu Nao Tusi. In the 17th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1752 AD), the Tusi system was abolished and replaced with the "Gaitu Guiliu" policy. The Zagu Tusi territory was divided into five garrisons, with two guards, Gousang, stationed in Gambo. The office of the Sang guard still remains today. Gambo Tibetan Village is the most well-preserved and largest Jiarong Tibetan village among the five counties, astonishing the world with its unique, simple, and natural architectural style. The entire village is built along the cliffs, with houses connected to each other and households interlinked, showcasing the exquisite craftsmanship of the Jiarong people. The village's unique Guozhuang dance, folk songs, costumes, customs, and other elements of Jiarong Tibetan culture also offer visitors a visual feast.

Gambo Tibetan Village resembles clusters of stone carvings nestled halfway up the mountain. The Zagunao River rushes past in front of the village. Upon entering the village, the first thing that catches the eye is rows of fortress-like houses built of stone. The stone houses use no bricks, cement, river sand, or lime. They are constructed from locally sourced, water-worn granite-like "sesame stones" cut and processed into blocks of various sizes, and then stacked with local clay. These stone houses are warm in winter and cool in summer, resistant to weathering, as well as earthquake-proof, fireproof, and waterproof. The houses are generally two or three stories high, wider at the bottom and narrower at the top: the ground floor is used for housing livestock and storing miscellaneous items; the second floor consists of living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and guest rooms; the third floor has a flat roof that can be used for drying and threshing grain. Some Tibetan homes even feature structures similar to modern indoor or outdoor balconies. The stone houses are closely adjacent to each other, arranged at varying heights, naturally forming the village layout. Narrow alleys, ranging from about three meters to just wide enough for two people to pass side by side, lie between the houses. The alleyways are all paved with sesame stones, and even the local elders can’t say exactly how many lanes and alleys there are in the entire village.

For thousands of years, the Jiarong Tibetans of Gambo have primarily relied on farming and herding, using oxen for plowing and slash-and-burn cultivation, resulting in low yields and a less developed culture. After liberation, the Tibetans gradually became more Sinicized, switching their staple food to rice and their meat sources to pork, beef, and mutton. Today, the village has over 160 households and more than 800 residents, with only one male Han Chinese—a son-in-law who married into the village—the rest are all Tibetans. The fruits and cabbages grown here are free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides, making them pollution-free and harmless, and thus favored as green food by city dwellers. It has now become the second vegetable base for Chengdu. The Jiarong Tibetans of Gambo use both Tibetan and Han languages and scripts and follow Buddhism. In the past, if a family had two sons, one of them was required to go to Lhasa to take the imperial examination. Their clothing differs from that of the Western and Qiang peoples. On ordinary days, they usually wear Han-style clothes, but on festive occasions, they wear Tibetan attire. Women wear headscarves adorned with coral and silver ornaments to ward off evil spirits, while men’s clothing is trimmed with animal fur, and they carry waist knives or Tibetan knives to display bravery and fierceness. The people of Gambo are good singers and dancers, with their own unique folk Guozhuang dance that everyone, regardless of age or gender, can perform. During Tibetan New Year and major festive occasions, the entire village gathers to dance together as a celebration.

The people of Gambo are open-hearted, hospitable, and strong in spirit of unity and cooperation. Nowadays, when the whole village builds roads, no one expects payment, and everyone participates actively. If a family is building or renovating a house, others voluntarily help through a work-exchange system, without any monetary compensation. Their main sources of income are vegetable farming, developing side businesses, collecting and selling medicinal herbs, and processing colored headscarves, belts, and creating paper-cut paintings.

Location: Gambo Tibetan Village is located 8 kilometers east of Li County and 162 kilometers from Chengdu. It is a typical cultural convergence area of Tibetan, Qiang, and Han cultures.

Climate: Gambo Tibetan Village sits against the mountain and faces the water, oriented north to south, with the Zagunao River flowing from west to east at the village entrance. This orientation helps block the cold northern winds in winter while also ensuring ample sunlight.

Resources: The entire village is built along the cliffs, with houses connected and households interlinked, presenting a grand and majestic sight that showcases the exquisite craftsmanship of the Jiarong people. The village’s unique Guozhuang dance, folk songs, costumes, customs, as well as military garrison culture, religious culture, farming culture, stone culture, and the national intangible cultural heritage "Boba Sen Gen" hold significant research and aesthetic value, attracting numerous tourists every year for sightseeing and experience.

Honors: Gambo Tibetan Village is a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit and became a national AAAA-level scenic spot in 2012.

Contact: 0837—6828588

Official Website: http://www.ablixian.gov.cn/ (Li County Government Website)