Laigu Glacier, in Laigu Village and near to Ranwu Lake

Site location: Laigu Village, Basu County, Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet

Laigu Glacier is a collective name for a group of glaciers. It is next to Ranwu Lake and is the source of Palong Zangbo River. Melted ice and snow flow into Ranwu Lake. The lake is surrounded by dense virgin forests. There are many primitive Tibetan villages here. In terms of climate, it is located in the main channel of the Indian Ocean monsoon to transport cold air to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It has sufficient precipitation, which is conducive to the development of glaciers. Therefore, Laigu Glacier belongs to marine glaciers.

Laigu Glacier

The Laigu Glacier is the largest and widest known glacier in Tibet. Its name Laigu Glacier comes from a small village: Laigu Village. In Tibetan language, Laigu Village means a hidden, paradise-like village. The first sight of Laigu glacier is like a beauty suddenly appeared in front of you. Laigu Village is hidden in the green dome of rolling mountains all around, and it also seems to be intentionally hidden by nature, hence its name.

In Laigu Village, you can see Meixi Glacier, Yalong Glacier, Ruojiao Glacier, Dongga Glacier, Xiongga Glacier and Niuma Glacier at the same time. Because all these glaciers surround Laigu Village, they are collectively called Laigu glacier.

Among them, the "Yalong Glacier" has 12 kilometers length and extends from the main peak of Mount Gangri Gabu at an altitude of 6,606 meters to Lake Gangri Gabu at an altitude of 4 kilometers.

Walking along the simple village roads aside Wuhu Lake, even if you arrive at the end of ancient Laigu Village, more than 70 families still maintains the most authentic, semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral style of a Tibetan village.

Laigu Village

How to get to Laigu Glacier?

1) From Chengdu, Lhasa, Qamdo, Nyingchi and other places, you can take all the shuttle buses which runs on the G318 Sichuan-Tibet Highway and gets off at Ranwu Town, and then rent a car to the ancient village.
2) You can also take the shuttle bus to Cayu in Qamdo or Nyingchi, and get off at Zongba Village. It is only about 10 kilometers from Zongba Village to the ancient village.
3) The best way is to take the Sichuan-Tibet tour group to arrive at the ancient glacier.