The town is open to foreigners at this time.
If you need any information about the town of Xiahe, Labrang Monastery, or the Xiahe region, go visit Snowy Mtn Cafe located to the left of the Overseas Tibetan Hotel on the 2nd floor. Eugene, the American owner, can provide you with all kinds of info that you will never read in your guidebook or hear from other locals. They also have some travel articles posted on their website: '''www.snowymtncafe.com'''
'''From Lanzhou''' - Only Lanzhou Nanzhan (Lanzhou South Bus Terminal, near Lanzhou University of Technology shortly Li Gong Da) serves the buses to Linxia, Gannan (including Xiahe, Hezuo and Langmusi, etc.). 2/3 of the road Lanzhou-Linxia is highway, thus trip time shortened now, for about 2.5 hrs. Be careful to the people around you outside the ticketing office of Lanzhou Nanzhan.
'''Frequency''': about every 30 minutes serves a bus from Lanzhou to Linxia, starting 7am-5pm, trip time about 2.5hrs. Also every 30 minutes a bus from Linxia to Xiahe, trip time 1.5hrs. While only 3 direct buses, trip time about 4 hrs, Lanzhou Nanzhan-Xiahe, 6.30 7.30 and 14.30. So you may take bus to Linxia, and from Linxia to Xiahe for your flexible time.'''
'''Xiahe-Langmusi''', now 1 bus a day available. From Xiahe at 7.40am, and from Langmusi back to Xiahe at 2.00pm, fare about 44 RMB yuan or above due to fuel price arising.
The first are the Ganjia Grasslands. The Grasslands are not the primary reason to visit Ganjia, but you will pass through them on your way there and the whole region is covered in grasslands during the summer months.
The second thing is the ancient town of Bajiao (Bajiao Cheng _i___p___jin Chinese). This is a walled village that was originally built in the Han Dynasty (around 2000 years ago). Bajiao Cheng is still inhabited today and it is one of the key reasons (if not the best reason!) to visit Ganjia! Note, you will be asked to pay a 10 RMB entrance fee to go into the village.
The third reason to go to Ganjia is to see the amazing White Rock Cliffs _iBai Shi Ya - _____R_jthat tower above the northern end of the valley! As you get closer to Bajiao Cheng, you won't be able to miss the cliffs high up in front of you.
The final reason to visit the Ganjia area is to see the small monastery that sits right at the foot of the White Rock Cliffs. There is actually a small village together with the monastery. If the place is still open, you can have a bite to eat or get a drink at the only cafe/store near the monastery.
Getting to Ganjia is the difficult part. There are no public buses that will take you to Bajiao Cheng or the monastery at the foot of the White Rock Cliffs. Most people hire a taxi from Xiahe for about 200-400 RMB per vehicle per day (5-8 hours round trip). The vehicles that go to Ganjia are almost always the minivans that seat 6 people plus the driver. So if you get together with some other travellers, you can get there for as little as 40 RMB or so per person.
If you are a very adventurous person you can get to Ganjia by taking the early morning bus to Tongren/Repcon (___m) and getting off at Ganjia Town (Ganjia Xiang ? ____?). From there it would be at least a 10-12 kilometer hike to get to Bajiao Cheng, the monastery at the foot of the White Rock Cliffs, and back to the town. And you would need to get back to Ganjia town by about lunch time because that is when the bus coming from Xining or Tongren comes by on its way to Xiahe. The only other option would be to wait and wait until you could catch a motorcycle, taxi, or tractor back to Xiahe. But there are no promises that you will find anything.
If you decide to hire a car like most people do, the best place to organize your trip to Ganjia is by asking someone who speaks English at your hotel. I have known the Tara Guesthouse and the White Stupa Hotel to connect numerous tourists with taxi drivers who have taken them on enjoyable trips to Ganjia.
You can also come and visit us at the Snowy Mountain Cafe. If I am available, I can take you myself on the tour of Ganjia! We are located on the 2nd floor of the building just to the left of the Overseas Tibetan Hotel.
There are two ways to get to the lake. The first is simply to hire any taxi from Xiahe to the lake. You can get there round trip (2-3 hours) for around 100 RMB, or one way for 50 RMB. If you go one-way in a taxi, you will then need to walk down the mountain road back to the main highway and hitch a ride on any of the numerous buses that pass by on their way to Xiahe each hour.
If you don't want to pay for a taxi, you can also get there by taking a bus and walking. Take any bus leaving Xiahe going towards Linxia (?__) or Hezuo_i_____j(every half-hour) and get off 20 km (about half an hour) down the highway when you see a big sign on the right side of the road with another dirt road heading up the mountain on the left hand side of the road. Or you can just tell the driver that you want to go to Darzong Lake and he should let you know when you arrive at the turnoff.
Once you get off the bus, you need to start walking up the dirt road on the left. It is about a 1 or 1 and 1/2 hour hike up the road to the lake. You will be charged a 10 RMB entrance fee as you pass through the only Tibetan village along the road. When you want to head back to Xiahe, just walk back down the road to the highway and catch another bus back to town. The bus fare between there and Xiahe should be around 5 RMB but the bus drivers will probably try to charge you 10 RMB.