Far up in the Tibetan mountains lies one of the world’s most remote cities most tourists will never lay eyes on.

The city of Medog currently only has one way to travel there after one of its two access roads was closed due to an avalanche. 

The only access road is from Bome Country, and the 74 mile journey can take up to four hours. The city also has an interesting policy called “even-in, odd-out”, which is where on even-numbered dates, traffic can only enter the city, and on odd-numbered dates, traffic can exit only.

The simple road that was built in the 1970s was regularly blocked due to extreme weather conditions, causing it to be closed around eight months a year.

It requires travelling through high mountains and used to be considered a deadly route due to the avalanches and frequent landslides during the raining seasons. 

However, in 2010, the Chinese government announced a project to renovate the road, including the construction of the Galongla tunnel, which closes for a short period of time every day as a control measure.

The county, which has busy roads and hotels, is made up of one town, which is divided into smaller townships, including one ethnic township.

Mountain villages were also a part of the county; however, they had to relocate to lower places for safety reasons.

Dengba is a village in Medog which is made up of around 40 households, and during the evening, they participate in activities together. The women get together and often do dance, and the men will do archery.

Despite the area being isolated, the area is very diverse with different ethnic groups.

The most updated report of the area’s population was from 2020, according to the national census of the People’s Republic of China, Medog County has a population of 14,889.