Midui Glacier in Bome County, Nyingchi
Chinese Name:米堆冰川
English Name: Midui Glacier in Bome County, Nyingchi
On October 23, 2005, a ranking list of the most beautiful places in China was published. This activity, sponsored by Chinese National Geography Magzine, selected the top six gorgeous glaciers in China, including Midui Glacier and Rongbuk Glacier in Tibet, Tomur Glacier and Telamukanli Glacier in Xinjiang, Touming Mengke Glacier in Gansu, and the glaciers in Sichuan Trumpet Shell Valley.
Located at Yupu Town, Bome County in Nyingchi, Midui Glacier is a typical maritime glacier in Tibet as well as the lowest glacier in the world with its snow line no more than 15,400 feet (4,694 meters) high. As it’s merely four miles (8 kilometers) from China’s famous National Highway No. 318, Midui Galacier is readily accessible. The shiny and crystal glaciers, along with surrounding lakes, farmlands, forests and villages, makes visitors wonder they enter a fairyland.
Midui Glacier lies at the junction of Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains and Boshula Mountain, where monsoon maritime glaciers are mainly distributed. Southwest monsoon from the Indian Ocean comes through the Yarlung Tsangpo River and Chayu River Valley and eventually brings a large amount of precipitation to this region. Then a magnificent glacier came into being around a snow peak behind Midui Village. The main peak of the glacier is around 22,310 feet (6,800 meters) above the sea level. The bottom part of Midui Glacier extends to mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forests. Looking from a distance, the holy glacier is like a fair lady wearing a silvery kerchief and green dress.
Midui Glacier features huge ice basins, frequent snow slides and wide icefalls. It originates from a lofty snow mountain. On the mountain top, there are two vast ice basins covered by abundant ice and snow. Once the ice basins become full, ice flows down from the mountain top to the basin beneath, forming magnificent ice falls with a maximum height of more than 2,600 feet (792 meters) and width of more than 1,100 yards (1,006 meters). An avalanche can happen at any time, leaving upright avalanche chutes, as if they were cut by the axe of Nature.
Midui Village
With fertile farmland and dense forests around, Midui Village is a small Tibetan village at the foot of Midui Glacier. Villagers’ houses are built of wood logs. Every house has a courtyard decorated with tall trees and colorful prayer flags (also called wind-horse flags). One who enters the village would think they entered a forest park.
Travel Tips
1. Take some medicine to cope with the altitude sickness.
2. Take water, chocolates, biscuits or some other snacks containing high calories to replenish energy.
3. Take sunglasses and a raincoat.
4. Better wear a pair of hiking shoes or mountaineering boots.
Accommodation
Visitors can find several hostels in the Midui Village. Usually there are not many tourists, so visitors can lodge there. Or they can get back to stay in Ranwu Town not far from Midui Village.
How to get there
As Midui Village lies between Ranwu Town in Baxoi County and Bome County, visitors can go there either from Ranwu Town or Bome County, but it’s advised to go from Ranwu because of shorter distance.
There are buses from Chengdu, Chamdo, and Nyingchi that pass by Ranwu Town. Visitors can take one and get off at Ranwu. Then carpool to head for Midui Village. Afterwards, they can choose to walk or ride a horse for about 40 minutes to reach the glacier sightseeing terrace. Round-way horse rental costs about CNY 100.
If visitors start the trip from Bome County, they can charter a car to Midui Village. It takes around 1.5 hours to get to the village.
