How this Google Earth screenshot inspired an 8,500 km road trip through Northwestern China.

Three years ago, I found a mysterious peak on Google Earth that no map could name. This is the story of my 8,500 km road trip through northwestern China to find and prove the existence of the"Chinese Matterhorn" in Gansu Province. Its shape reminded me on the famous "Matterhorn" and I was obsessed to see it with my own eyes. The problem , the peak is 2200km from my home in Shanghai in very remote "Tewo County, Gansu Province, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It means we’ll face a lot of highway driving but also some nice offroading and tiny mountain roads. On the way we need to cross the Zaghana mountains on the famous “Locke Road” leading up to 4200m. We’ll surely need some days for acclimatization to the heights before we drive up to the video location. So it’s only reasonable to add some more days for Overlanding China! Finally the search for the” Cuo Daixi” ended with a 4K POV Drive through 10 provinces, 5 Mountain ranges , 8553km and 3 TB of 4K footage  Lot’s of video cutting in the next month! Back to the Peak Finding it, however, turned out to be a completely different challenge. Cuo Daixi, listed at around 4,950 m, is believed to be the highest peak in the eastern part of the Zaghana mountain region. Yet the entire range is hidden behind a 20 km-wide belt of foothills, rising to more than 3,500 m. These foothills completely block the view from the main road along the Bailong River below. Within this remote foothill belt there are only a handful of self-sufficient Tibetan settlements, connected by tiny dirt roads that are frequently affected by landslides and rockfalls. It seemed entirely possible that spectacular mountains over 4,500 m had remained almost unknown. I spent days studying Google Earth, trying to find the perfect location for a drone flight. I seemed to be the 3200m ridge above “ Puwu” ( 2700m) but how to get there? Official maps showed only a hiking trail. But after zooming in on Google Earth, I noticed what looked like a tiny mountain road. The next challenge was altitude. Even if we managed to reach 2,700 m by car, there would still be a 500 m climb to the ridge. Given my age and physical condition, that simply wasn't an option. So, I started learning to fly a Drone  Finally, we equipped the car with a fridge, food, drinks and blankets, ready to wait for the perfect weather and light if necessary. Was the mountain in the thumbnail real? You'll find the answer in this film. Question for the viewers Interestingly, I couldn't find an official name for the extraordinary "Zaghana" mountain range. Some sources describe it as the western extension of the Qinling Mountains, while others refer to it simply as part of the Zaghana region. If somebody of you know more about this mountain range, I'd love to hear from you in the comments! Location : Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Tewo County/Gansu Driving Date : June 9th 2026 Weather: Sunny/overcast Accomodation: Diebu/ Zaghana , several tourist hotels or homestays Roads: mostly bumpy dirtroads , no offroad but partly very narrow Risks: Rockfalls, landslides, height, partly no mobile connection, no help in sight in case of emergency Best Driving time: Early June is warm enough, just before the rain season September should be fine too, probably less rain Tools: Car - Audi Q7 Camera - DJI Action 5 Pro Drone - DJI Air3S Timeline: 00:00 Preview 00:52 Maps 01:14 drive through Bailong Jiang Gorge 02:15 Ni’Aoxiang – driving through a modern Tibetan village 06:26 Driving fun starts 07:03 Impressive, frightening entrance into the Puwu valley 10:15 The track gets wider and bumpy, cattle on the road 11:24 No navigation, checking paper prints  13:52 Prayer flags and Tibetan Characters at the junctions 15:28 The road is getting really tight! 17:50 beautyful lush vegetation above 2000m 19:00 First view an the main mountains 23:03 Water driven Prayer Mill 24:04 The last junction to Puwu 27:10 Hairpin climb on a very steep slope 32:02 This embarkment won’t stand the Monsoon Season ahead! 34:10 unexpected closed gate 36:12 Revealing the truth by drone Maplink : https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Shang...