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Danba is a small county in the mountain valley whose residents are Gyarong Tibetans. This area of Tibetan-speaking hamlets, perched stunningly on 8,000-foot-high mountainsides, has long been a way station on a circuit through the country's southwestern Sichuan Province, which is home to some of China's most exotic travel destinations.

Danba is famous for its watchtowers. The Yao'ai watchtower was built at passes and places of strategic importance. "If one man guards the pass, ten thousand can not get through"; and these watchtowers are testaments to this old Chinese saying. The Fenghuo watchtower was built on hilltops for the purpose of transmitting messages. To protect inhabitants and property, the Zhai watchtower was built at the entrance of villages. The Jia watchtower was built inside the village and was connected to the dwelling houses. It was used as storage in peacetime and as a defense during wartime.

Fortunately, most of the Danba watchtowers has survived from the May-12 Sichuan Earthquake.

How to get there: There are two bus routes from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, to Danba County. One route is from Chengdu through Ya'an, Mount Erlang, Kangding (Dardo), the Tagong Grassland, the Bamei Stone Forest, and the Donggu Scenic Zone. The trip takes two days and one night, with an overnight stay in Kangding. The other route is a one-day trip from Chengdu through the Wolong Nature Reserve, Mount Siguniang, and Xiaojinchuan.

(China.org.cn March 4, 2009)