Songpan, China

Before leaving Jiu Zhai Gou, the heaven of mother nature, while on the way to the Airport, we manage to drop by at this ancient town where one of the main ethnic groups are Muslims, besides Aba Tibetan, Qiang and Han Chinese, Songpan.

the entrance to the town

According to China Discover [CLICK HERE for more details],

Although Aba is a Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture, elderly bearded men sporting distinctive white caps are a common sight on its streets. Muslim culture is widespread in Aba, where there is a large community of Hui people. Its street-life scenario is made complete by the large numbers of Muslim pancake sellers hawking their wares. Songpan is site of a number of Hui ethnic villages. The other three ethnic groups resident in the county are Tibetan, Qiang and Han Chinese. Songpan was once a regular stop for traveling merchants, but its commercial importance is now ancient history. 

 If you are a history person, I think this is a place that you would have to visit because this is the place where a small town marked a significant history between China and Tibet.


Like below,

Statue of Tang Princess Wencheng and Tubo king Songtsan Gambo outside north gate of Songpan

Forgive me, if I got my history of the above wrong.


According to my mummy + the tour guide explanation while I busy capturing the moment, the above statue was made in remembrance of this Tang Princess and the King. Princess Wencheng is not only remembered as princess, but she's the one who make a significant contribution in spreading the teaching of Buddha.


OK. That's all I remembered from the tour guide and mummy. XD


Inside the town, which is basically just a one street with shophouses at both side.

Some of the locals,

Making shoes out of leather 

Parents waiting for their kids to end their class. It's a kindergarden school 

Not much of photos I took here simply because when we step into the town, we went to this shop selling fruits. Buying bags of fruits to eat.

Beside the shops, there's this old lady selling water chesnut, Mummy bought it. And yeah, you know what's next.


All of us busy eating the water chesnut (which you can find at Petaling Street and you always get cheated for it's price and quantity), it is like so nice and warm to eat at such cold weather. It is so fresh lorh !!


And and ...


I ended my Songpan memory with a gift from our pretty tour guide,

I don't really know what is called in English, but it's fruits that is dip into red sugar coating. The one I had is small peach.. Yum ~

That's all my journey in Jiu Zhai Gou ..

Bye bye Jiu Zhai Gou ~ I will miss you lots and promise to visit you again one day

But wait .. That's not all for my China trip ..

Up Next: Big Buddha and Er Mei Shan ...