Hongyuan Mowa

Hongyuan Mowa

It boasts the most advantageous geographical location, connecting to Chuanzhusi in Songpan to the east, 130 kilometers away, making it a necessary route from Songpan to Ruoergai. To the north, it links to the First Bend of the Yellow River, just 30 kilometers away, serving as a shortcut from Songpan to the First Bend of the Yellow River, as well as a vital passage from Hongyuan to Ruoergai and Gansu Province. The scenic area covers 3,000 square kilometers. This area consists of three main attractions: grassland scenery, Mowa Temple, and a natural zoo.

Grassland Scenery

This scenic area features boundless stretches of high-quality grassland. The poetic imagery of “the sky is like a dome, covering all around; the land so vast, the grass so high you can see horses and sheep only when the wind blows” from ancient poetry can truly be felt here. Before the 1930s, this vast grassland was an uninhabited region, thus becoming a paradise for wildlife. Many fierce animals such as tigers, leopards, wolves, and jackals formed large families here, while species like antelopes, argali, river deer, wild oxen, wild donkeys, as well as foxes, rabbits, blue eared pheasants, martens, deer, and Mongolian gazelles also had their own territories. Various bird species also thrived in their own habitats.

By 1937, the Mowa tribe residing in the Kham region, unwilling to endure the oppression of warlord Liu Wenhui, undertook a long and arduous journey from their homeland, traveling thousands of miles to settle in this fertile uninhabited land, becoming its new inhabitants. Due to the relatively recent development of this grassland and the frequent attacks by fierce wildlife on both humans and livestock, people treated the land as sacred and held it in great reverence. As a result, the ecosystem has been well preserved, allowing visitors to experience the poetic beauty described in the ancient song “Tian Cang Cang, Ye Mang Mang, Feng Chui Cao Di Jian Niu Yang” (The sky is vast, the land is boundless, the wind blows the grass low to reveal cattle and sheep).

The entire grassland is not entirely flat but dotted with many dome-shaped green hills. Between these hills lie one small basin after another, cradled by gently flowing streams. At the foothills or summits of these mounds grow pristine forests. Pearlescent white flocks of sheep move across the hills, while herds of cattle and horses graze on the cloud-dappled basins.

Tents are scattered across the landscape like stars, with wisps of cooking smoke curling into the air.