Hate to disagree on Emma's Kitchen though....David, Emma's brother, is a nice guy. But Emma is friendly because she wants something from you...either to eat at her restaurant which sucks, to book the horsetrekking tour at SHun Jinag or to sleep at the Shun Jiang hostel... other than that Emma is not very helpful, is waht we found out unfortunately. She was very keen to sell us the horsetrekking tour but suddenly didn't know anything about horsetrekking when we asked her about the lake on the picture. They told a guy that did the tour with us that the lake was cold, but he could swim there. But the guides said it is a dangerous climb (6000 m) and it takes a day. So impossible to do within the three-day tour. Sarah Yang (close to Emma's Kitchen) is really and genuinly friendly and her english is very good. And she doesn't chase the tour buses to look for unaware and naive tourists like ourselves to eat, sleep or drink at the Shun Jiang cartel....and the massage salon is part of the cartel as well by the way! So be aware and shop around for horestrek tickets. The old house next to the busstation is well recommended!!! Shun Jiang's bathrooms are nasty (review from 7 different travellers by the way)

Songpan is very chill! Emma at Emma's Kitchen is extremely knowledgeable about the area and makes semi-decent western meals. Next door is a wonderful massage parlor and they give wonderful Tibetan massages. The horseback riding company is very friendly and fun. Each guide owns their own horses, hence owning a part of the company - great for supporting the local economy. Guides are wonderful and are awesome cooks! The hot springs are overrated and not that warm. Ice Mountain can be a fun trek, but is often crowded with foreigners. Other treks not as popular have less participants, which can be nice. Nights provide some of the best star gazing available, but can get extremely chilly even in the summer - so pack warm! It is highly recommended to wear sunscreen since you go up to elevations past 4000 meters. The old part of town has nice tea/beer houses to relax in and chincy trinkets can be bought easily. The cheapest hotel in town is in the bus station (Songzhou Jiaotong Binguan).

I loved this town! We did a horsetrek and spent a day before and a day after there. Be sure to walk into the old part of town.  You can also play pool in the streets in the evenings and we took our guides out for beers and a crayfish dinner (crayfish racing is highly recommended) which is one of my favorite memories from China.

nice tibetan village with mountains and beautiful waters, i missed the horse track to munigou and definitely want to do it!