Day 01: Arrive in Chengdu (D)
Arrive in Chengdu, capital of province Sichuan, the home town of Panda. Picked up by the local guide at airport and transferred to hotel. 1N at Chengdu.
Day 02: Chengdu – Mianyang (L/D)
In the morning visit the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, situated in the north suburbs of Chengdu. About 30 pandas live in the semi-natural environment in this base, where you not only see the giant pandas closely but also learn more knowledge about the rare animal by visiting Giant Panda Museum and watching films. Afterwards drive to Guanghan County 42 kilometer to Chengdu. The site of Sanxingdui, located in the city of Guanghan, 40 km from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, is recognized as one of the most important ancient remains in the world for its vast size, long history and enriched cultural contents. The unique Sanxingdui Museum is located in the northeast of the Sanxingdui remains, near the Duck River. It is a museum equipped with modern facilities. Covering 200,000 square meters, the total investment has reached over 30 million yuan. In the afternoon arrive at Mianyang. 1N at Mianyang.
Day 03: Mianyang – Pingwu - Jiuzhaigou (B/L/D)
Drive to Jiuzhaigou, on the way visit the Tibetan Baima Village. The hospitable Baima tribal communities live in small picturesque villages with lovely painted windows and doors and enjoy festivals, dancing and storytelling. Staying with them in their houses will offer you a unique window into their unique culture. In the evening arrive in Jiuzhaigou. 2N at Jiuzhaigou.
Day 04: Jiuzhaigou (B/L/D)
Go sightseeing the whole day in three valleys: Shuzheng Valley, Zhezhawa Valley and Rize Valley. Situated in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Jiuzhaigou (Nine-villages Valley) is listed as a World Natural Heritage and reputed as a “fairyland” with its fantastic natural view. It is named after the nine Tibetan villages in the scenic area. As the water, the “soul of Jiuzhaigou”, is purely and crystal-like clear and rich in colors, there goes the saying that no water is worth your attention after your visit to Jiuzhaigou. The water, the reflection on the bank, the stone mill, the Tibetan villages, the Buddhist streamers and the songs and dances of the Tibetan and Qiang people constitute the unique tourist culture of Jiuzhaigou. 114 green lakes, 47 springs, 17 over flying waterfall groups, 11 sections of turbulent streams, 5 Karst shoals, vast primitive forest and three Tibetan villages are distributed among the three valleys. It has an area of 1320 square km. including 30,000 hectares of primitive forest where are living 2576 proto species including scores of state-protected animals and plants such as the giant panda, golden monkey and mono-leaf grass.
Day 05: Jiuzhaigou - Huanglong – Maoxian (B/L/D)
In the morning drive to the Huanglong Scenic Spot which is also listed as a World Natural Heritage. Located at Songpan County, the Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) scenic spot, as the legend goes, is so named to commemorate the Golden Dragon of the East Sea who helped Dayu, an ancient emperor in remote antiquity, to regulate rivers and watercourse. The Min Mountains and forests contribute to the complete primitive ecological environment, unique magic scenery and pastoral customs of the minority nationality. As a national park in China, Huanglong has won the praise as “heaven on earth” or “wonderland” and is marked by its low-temperature and highly calcified Karst landform, which forms numerous valuable colored ponds. Besides, marvelous water forms, natural scenery composed of magnificent valleys, colorful pools, grasslands and wild animals all make Huanglong more fascinating. Afterwards drive to Maoxian. On the way, appreciate the valley landscape of the upper reaches of the Min River and have a stopover at Diexi Haizi Lake, which is just made of two barrier lakes resulted from the big earthquake in 1933. Reach Maoxian County in the late afternoon. 1N at Maoxian.
Day 06: Maoxian - Taoping – Dujiangyan – Chengdu (B/L/D)
Leave Maoxian for Chengdu. Upon arrival at Wenchuan County, visit Taoping Qiang People’s Stockaded Village, 16 kilometers far away from Lixian County. The ancient Taoping Village has a great appeal for the numerous experts and tourists with its odd and wonderful fortress buildings. The bottom parts of these tower-shaped buildings are in width and length, and then upon them the main bodies become contracted storey by storey, which makes the building operated by means of centripetal force and become firm. These blockhouses are over ten floors and can be regarded as the skyscrapers of the old times. Built by lying stones, the outside edges of every stone are sharp while every side of the tower looks flat and straight. Though they have had experienced as long as one thousand years, they do not collapse and keep steady. That is why people acclaim them as the peak of perfection among the same kinds of buildings. And then visit Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which was built around 250 BC by Li Bin, a governor of Shu Prefecture in Qin State. The great project still works well today after more than two thousand year’s function, which not only puts an end of the water disaster to the local people but also makes Chengdu Plain “the land of abundance”. While visiting the water conservation work, you may find that the methods of harnessing the river the ancient people used are so simple but useful. In the afternoon reach Chengdu. 1N at Chengdu.
Day 07: Chengdu – Leshan - Emeishan (B/L/D)
Drive to Leshan. On the way enjoy the beautiful countryside landscape of western Chengdu Plains during about two hour’s driving on the expressway. In Leshan visit the Grand Buddha in the Lingyun Temple. The grand Buddha was completed in 803 of Tang Dynasty after 90 year’s construction and enjoys the fame of the biggest sitting stone sculpture in the world with a 71-meter height. Carved on the cliff face, the sculpture is well designed with perfect balance and effective water drainage system. Afterwards head for Mt. Emei, the main ritual place of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and one of the four most celebrated Buddhism mountains in China. 1N at Emeishan.
Day 08: Emei Shan – Chengdu (B/L/D)
Early in the morning take the cable car to the Golden Summit. With an elevation of 3099 meters, if it is fine, you find your visions become broadened; the verdant forest waves surge along the mountain; Min River, Qingyi River and Dadu River are like three pieces of silk; Mt. Daxue and Mt. Gongga seem to stretch to the horizon; the sun emerges with all shimmering rays through the surging cloud. Lucky enough, the Buddhist light is available to see. After visit Huazang Si (copper temple), take cable car and bus down to visit Wannian Si, which is located at the waist of the mountain and accessible by cable car. The temple was initially built in 420 and got the present name of Wannian Si (Ten-Thousand-Years Temple) by Emperor Shenzong of Ming Dynasty (1537-1619) who wished to celebrate his mother’s birthday and changed the name of the temple in hope of her longevity. The importance of the temple lies at not only its long history and glorious past, but also being just the main ritual place of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Inside the Mongolian tent-shaped beamless brick hall is a 7.3-meter statue of Samantabhadra sitting on an elephant, which was cast in Chengdu in 980 of Song Dynasty and weighs 62,000 kg. And then drive back to Chengdu. 1N at Chengdu.
Day 09: Fly home (B/L)
In the morning visit the Du Fu's Thatched Cottage. It is the cottage of the great poet Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty, beside the Huanhua Creek. In the second year of the Qianyuan period of the Tang Dynasty (759 AD), Du Fu tramped from the neighboring Shaanxi Province to Chengdu and built himself a thatched house there where he stayed for nearly four years and wrote 240 poems. After lunch transfer to airport, fly back home.
