Practical travel information on Health in Western Sìchuān & the Road to Tibet

Health & safety

Dangers & annoyances

Towns in these areas experience up to 200 freezing days per year; summers are blistering by day and the high altitude invites particularly bad sunburn. Lightning storms are frequent from May to October, when cloud cover can shroud the scenic peaks. Because of rapid weather changes, the tracks around Gònggā Shān can be treacherous.

If you’re planning to attempt to cross into Tibet from Bātáng or Dégé, you may want to reconsider. The PSB keep a close eye on foreigners, and as truck drivers are severely punished for carrying foreigners across the border, they’re unlikely to give you a lift. Some travellers have managed to bribe their way in but at costs that make flying from Chéngdū seem cheap. However, if you’re arriving from Tibet into Sìchuān, nobody seems to give a damn.

The US State Department in 2006 was reporting incidents of travellers being physically assaulted by authorities after they were caught.

Be forewarned: at the time of writing it was not possible to change money or travellers cheques (except in Kāngdìng for these two) or to get advances on credit cards in Sìchuān’s northwest. Bring your Renminbi with you.