I just returned from 4 days of hik­ing in this beau­ti­ful remote moun­tain vil­lage in Chi­na. Yubeng! Tucked in a val­ley sur­round­ed by glaciat­ed peaks right on the bor­der with Tibet.

The only way to get here is by foot, or for those with a bad case of Ambu­lo­pho­bia (fear of walk­ing), mules can car­ry you.

Nes­tled in a farm­ing val­ley on the bor­der of Tibet, amongst lush green forests, sur­round­ed by rugged glac­i­er cov­ered moun­tains lies Yubeng Village.

It’s split into Upper and Low­er Yubeng. Two vil­lages about a 40-minute walk from each other.

Pigs and cows roam the streets and chick­ens run to and fro between the farm hous­es and fields

Low­er Yubeng has two small monas­ter­ies, is a lit­tle more rur­al (although they both have free-roam­ing farm ani­mals) and is a lit­tle qui­eter. Upper Yubeng com­mands bet­ter views as it’s high­er in the val­ley and has more guest­hous­es and a few bars.

It’s an 18-kilo­me­ter walk to get here. The views com­ing down into the vil­lage are enough to get your heart racing…along with the high altitude!

There are hik­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties through the moss-cov­ered forests, up into lush val­leys with glac­i­ers and waterfalls.

Or you can just relax in the usu­al­ly qui­et vil­lage and enjoy the spec­tac­u­lar views of the Meili Snow Moun­tains as a mule munch­es on the gar­den near your hotel and a pig sniffs for some­thing edi­ble on the cob­ble­stone path.

On the hike to the holy glacial lake, you pass through a beau­ti­ful pas­ture with yaks graz­ing. This is also the base camp for those climb­ing Kawage­bo Moun­tain 6,740 m (22,110′)

Felaisi & Meili Snow Mountains

One usu­al­ly stops over in the near­by Tibetan town of Feilaisi. A pic­turesque town in its own right with unpar­al­leled views of the Meili Snow Moun­tains dom­i­nat­ing the skyline.

The sun­ris­es and sun­sets here put on dis­play a spec­tac­u­lar myr­i­ad of colors.

The inter­play of light and shad­ows illu­mi­nates the moun­tain in gold­en hues rem­i­nis­cent of an Albert Bier­stadt paint­ing of the Amer­i­can West.

For more pic­tures and detailed infor­ma­tion on Yubeng Vil­lage includ­ing hik­ing in the Yubeng Val­ley click here for the com­plete guide!