The Tibetan buttered tea is prepared by mixing butter and salt with the juice from fully boiled and fermented tea leaves. Before serving, the mixture is further blended in a special blender. This is usually a slim wooden cylinder with a piston to push and pull inside the cylinder. The mixture of butter, salt and tea passes through the piston and cylinder to create a unique blend popular in Tibet. Both sweet teas or Tibetan buttered tea are served in small or large thermo flasks which preserve the heat necessary to savour the best flavour.

Travel Information

Take a train or fly to Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan Province. At the station by the Ximen (West Gate), a bus departs directly to Daofu. The journey takes about 14 hours and the price is about 120 yuan (US$14.50). There are also buses from the bus station of Kangding county seat to Daofu. A ride takes 40 yuan and lasts approximately four and a half hours. The county is small and suitable for a strolls on foot.

The county commission's hotel is well serviced, with standard rooms from 80 to 120 yuan. Request a room on the second floor for the best views of the temple and the surrounding residential area. There are also numerous private hotels in the surrounding county at even cheaper prices.

The average temperature year-round is more than 8 ℃ with an average of 2.5 ℃ in January and 16 ℃ in July. The best time to visit Daofu is in early summer when all the flowers are in bloom.

Visitors should be wary of altitude sickness. Prepare well by bringing vitamin supplements and aspirin. (Photo Source: baidu.com)

(CRIENGLISH.com)