Slideshows Yunnan · Nujiang · Gongshan
Bingzhongluo 丙中洛乡

North of Bingzhongluo the road ends and Tibet begins: a narrow dirt track, still wide enough to carry supply trucks, follows the Nujiang up to Chawalong, a small commercial center for the scattered Tibetan villages beyond. Beyond it, transport is by caravan only. The trail winds perilously along arid slopes, sometimes with spectacular views of the snow mountains, until it reaches Bitu, connected by road to Tibet.

Bingzhongluo, at the northern end of Yunnan's stretch of the Nujiang, remains a charming backwater wedged between the snow mountains of Gaoligongshan and Biluoshan.

The Nu people in northern Nujiang celebrate the arrival of spring with worship at a small cave near Bingzhongluo where they collect water dripping down from the stalactites.