What is Kekexili? Kekexili (ཨ་ཆེན་གངས་རྒྱལ།།), is a nature preserve on the northern Tibetan Plateau that is home to most of the Tibetan antelope, wild donkeys and wild yaks of Tibet. It is a high grassland area that sits at 4700m (15,416ft) above sea level covering 45,000 square kilometers. Kekexili is found in Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture in southwest Qinghai province. This region of Tibet is in the traditional Tibetan province of Kham. If you take the train or bus from Xining or Golmud to Lhasa, you will pass through some of Kekexili. It is a place a stunning beauty and is the theme of many Tibetan songs. It is surrounded by high, snow-capped mountain peaks and is home to few people. Most of the people who do live there are nomads who live in black yak-hair tents. Winters are long and extremly cold in Kekexili. Hunting is strictly forbidden in the nature preserve. The Tibetan antelope was hunted to the point of near extinction in the 1990's. A film, also called Kekexili, was made in 2004 about a group of Kham Tibetans from Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture who came together to form a patrol to protect the Tibetan antelope. The film is based on a true story.
Kekexili is a special and unique place unlike any other on earth. It is remote and barren, yet has a certain draw to it. It is one of my favorite places in all of Tibet. I chose to name this site after this great place.
Dragan....Currently, foreign travelers are required to have permits in order to travel to the Kekexili Nature Preserve. I am not 100% certain, but I have been told by the Yushu Tourism Bureau that these permits cost around 3000RMB per person. This does not include the cost of a driver, vehicle and guide for the region.
Amnye Machen, 4 Sisters Mountain and Aba are not anywhere near the Kekexili Nature Preserve, which is an uninhabited region located in southwest Qinghai and far northern Tibet Autonomous Region. From Aba to Kekexili is more than 2000kms.
Posted by: Losang | August 25, 2011 at 12:25 PM
Dear Losang,
Is it possible to travel independently and hike in Kekexili? I had a plan to spend the second half of September in a horse track around Amnye Machen, then to travel via Aba to Rilongzhen and climb the smallest peak of the Four Sisters mountain, but I have read at your wonderful site that Aba is closed to foreigners, so I must change my plan. Actually all I want is to hike and travel on a horse, and to break my modest altitude record by climbing something above 5000m, so Kekexili seems perfect. Or do you have some better suggestion (for which I do not need a permit or a fortune)?
Posted by: Dragan | August 12, 2011 at 08:31 PM
I agree with you about this area - even though I haven't been there. The shakti coming of this picture is intense... Like a lot of Tibet, where the starkness of the scene just amplifies the intense spiritual shine.
Thanks for this site.
Posted by: Matt Tyson | October 01, 2007 at 01:44 AM
Hi thank you for the wonderful site! We are coming to Tibet for our Winter holiday. Have a couple of questions for you.
1/ How much time would you suggest to spend in Tibet - we were thinking of staying only about 6 days - whats your thoughts on that?
2/Is it possible for us to just travel and see Mt Everest on a day trip or overnight from Lhasa?
Posted by: Mary Carlson | November 28, 2006 at 01:01 PM
Hello, just quickly; I am working for Discovery Channel and we will be filming in Tibet and Yunnan December and January 2007. You're site is very informative. Any chance we can have a chat and I can pick your brain of a few questions? My email address is above.
Many Thanks
Dean Cannon
Posted by: Dean Canon | November 13, 2006 at 01:27 PM