When you're in the modern metropolis of Chengdu with its high-rise buildings and grid locked highways it's hard to imagine that you are just a few hours away from China's western frontier, a place where Han Chinese culture meets and mingles with rugged Tibetan culture. But that is what I found in Danba, a mountain county in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Ganzi about eight hours by bus from Chengdu.

Two Jiarong Tibetan boys play in the hillsides of Jiaju, carrying their wicker baskets. The older boy, Lobsang, told me that he was ten years old. [Mark Frank/China.org.cn]

En route to Danba it may be hard to believe that you are headed towards anything worth seeing, as the road follows a slew of mining and construction sites. Cement shops line every small town, signs advertise cranes for rent, and work slogans in white lettering on red banners float high over strip-mining operations. At last, however, the red banners give way to varicolored strings of prayer flags and the bustling streets of Danba's main town.

Danba has a flavor that is distinct from other Tibetan vistas, partly because it is largely inhabited by Jiarong Tibetans, a unique people group about whom little is known. In feudal China the Jiarong were divided into 18 kingdoms, and today most are farmers or merchants. Their language, customs and architecture differ from other Tibetans.