Guide to Sichuan Province Attractions

Sichuan Province Attractions

Yuantong-Jiezi Ancient Town

Jiezi-Yuantong ancient town located near mountain qingcheng , this ancient town quite different with Huanglongxi or luodai , this toen keep there own unique , have not discovery by tourists yet , still keep there own culture , 100 years ago French pastor sat up a few of churches , and business shop this town , in that time this town so prosperity , but now day , you still can smell it , local resident boast of it own snack , there have more than 1000 of snacks you can taste and bring away ,

Giant Panda Breeding Center and Research Base

Chinese zoos are often equated to animal prisons by Western visitors. Fortunately Chengdu’s Giant Panda Breeding Center strays far from the norm. The research base is truly groundbreaking for country that pushes aside most environmental and ecological concerns due to its overpopulation issues. The base has a research lab, museum, panda kindergarten, and adult panda grounds. In total the base has 45 pandas. The children stay in the panda kindergarten area until they are three years old. Then they can hold their own in the adult grounds.

Baby Panda in the center in Chengdu

Right now there is only one baby panda under one year old. She is named Jing Jing in honor of the upcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing. As of March 2006 she is six months old and already 24 kilograms. Watching her climb about her wooden jungle gym and her caretaker can make even the most dignified man crack a smile. This adorable creature is the closest thing this earth has to an ewok. For the absurd price of Y800 you can even take a picture with Jing Jing in your lap

Jing Jing at play with her caretaker (photo by Jamey Doole)

Arrive early to catch the pandas roll out of bed and begin their two hour breakfast. Pandas only absorb about 20% of the fibers they ingest, so they spend much of their waking hours chomping away on bamboo. In the wild, a panda’s diet is more than 95% bamboo. After waking up, taking a short stroll, and scratching their backs for a bit, it is time for breakfast. The staff generally leaves large piles of bamboo close to visitor paths, so entrants can be duly entertained. The panda nestles into a comfortable spot next to a large pile of bamboo and lays on his or her back. By the time they are finished, they will be covered in a pile of their own bamboo remains. Watching the pandas snack incessantly is somewhat mesmerizing.

The base also has red pandas. However, one gets the feeling that red pandas are the giant panda’s red-headed step-sister. Visitors to this section are few and the price of a picture is only Y50. The red pandas may remind Westerners of raccoons or big cats. They do have beautiful fur and are quite elegant creatures.

Entrance to the base is Y30. A small movie theater with a free 18 minute film about breeding pandas is worth seeing. The footage of mother pandas giving birth is fascinating.

Directions: The base is about 10 kilometers outside of town. Reaching the base by bus is not very efficient. Take bus no. 10 to its terminus. At this bus station change to bus no. 1. It is much easier to take a taxi which should only cost about Y30 from the center of town. On the way back, just flag down bus no. 1. Bus no. 1 will take you to a bus station where you can either walk about 30-40 mins to reach downtown Chengdu or take another bus.

An adult panda in the center in Chengdu

Apparently double-fisting isn’t just for drunks (Photo by Jamey Doole)

Guide to Chengdu Eats

Chengdu is legendary throughout China for spicy food and superior eats. For visitors spending a short time in town don’t worry as much about eating at any specific restaurant, rather just be sure to try as many of these Chengdu specialties as you can.

&...

Huo Guo (火锅) - Hotpot. If you can’t locate a hotpot restaurant within 100 meters of where you stand, then you had better check your map, because you aren’t in Chengdu. Hotpot is the definitive meal of Chengdu and is often equated with the personalities of the local Chengdu citizens. If you are afraid of spicy food, try to work up some courage for hotpot. Eat slowly, the spice isn’t as much overwhelming as it is delicious. Add some vinegar, soy sauce, or oyster sauce to your plate to deaden the spice if you are struggling. At the restaurant first inform the staff as to whether you want spicy or not spicy hotpot. They can actually put a divider into the pot to provide you with both options. Then put a mark next to all of the meats, vegetables, and tofu you want to try on a checklist/menu given to you by the staff. Sometimes there will be an English menu as well, so just ask. Once the raw foods are brought to your table, dump them into the pot and let them cook. A few minutes later you will understand the lives of Chengdu residents that much more.

Shao Kao (烧烤) – Chinese Barbecue. These charcoal grills get fired up after the sun sets. Pick up a tray or basket from the vendor and pile on any kind of meat, seafood, vegetable, or tofu you can find from their assortment. The items are all diced up and placed on wooden skewers. Generally meat and seafood skewers cost Y1-2, while tofu and vegetable skewers are 5 jiao/mao (half of one yuan). Don’t forget to instruct the vendor as to what amount of spicy ‘la jiao’ you want: ‘duo’ for a lot, ‘wei la’ for a little bit, and ‘bu yao la’ for none. Other ingredients you can control with the same measure words are salt – ‘yan’, garlic – ‘suan’, and oil – ‘you’.

Tie Ban Shao (铁板烧) – Many smaller Shao Kao restaurants also offer this style of stir-fry. After you pick out the skewers you want to eat, they are first deep fried in oil for a minute or two. The food is then removed from the skewers and diced and stir-fried on a griddle. This is where they will add the ingredients as you instruct them. They can also add rice to the mix for an extra Y1-2. This method uses a lot of oil, but like everything else, is quite tasty.

Chuan Chuan Xiang (串串香) and Ma La Tang (麻辣烫) – This is an excellent way to test your spicy food eating capacity. These restaurants have large bowls of spicy chili peppers and other spices floating in boiling water over a flame. You pick out as many skewers as you want for 1 jiao/mao each and then cook them in the pot yourself. Usually patrons will have a dish of sesame oil with the option of garlic to deaden the taste a bit. Oyster sauce is commonly added to the mix as well.

Zhong Shui Jiao Dumplings (钟水饺) – This is Chengdu’s special dumpling. They are dumplings filled with pork and vegetables served in a soy sauce mixed with sugar, diced garlic, sesame, and a bit of salt. The sauce might sound a little unusual, but hey, since you’ve already traveled half way around the globe to come to Chengdu, it makes sense to give it a try. They are aboslutely delicious.

Chao Shou (抄手) – This treat is similar to dumplings, but they are made differently. They have a thinner flour skin and different shape than typical dumplings. These cousins of dumplings are also stuffed with pork usually. This Chengdu specialty is served in a soup. You have the option of soup with or without spice, and they taste like two completely different dishes depending on youir choice.

Jian Dan Mian (剪蛋面） - These tasty and salty tomato and egg noodles are a favorite of late night diners in Yulin. A well known place is on Yulin Zhonglu (玉林中路） near the intersection with Yulin Dong/Xi Lu.

Sichuan Dishes: Local restaurants serving generally stir fried dishes offer too many favorites to name, so we'll toss a few well known ones out here to get you started:

Hui Guo Rou 回国肉 - Twice or Double Cooked Pork, everyone's favorite
Tang Cu Li Ji 糖醋里脊 - Sweet and Sour Pork, usually more sweet than sour
Gong Bao Ji Ding 宫爆鸡丁 - Kung Pao Chicken, naturally quite spicy, but peanuts make it memorable
Ma Po Dou Fu 麻婆豆腐 - Grandma's Pock-Marked Tofu, Sichuan's most famous soft tofu dish
Yu Xiang Rou Si 鱼香肉丝 - Fish-flavored Shredded Pork and Veggies, better than the description may sound, I promise
Jia Chang Dou Fu 家常豆腐 - Home-style Tofu, a thicker, harder type of tofu, clearly I'm not tofu expert
Shui Zhu Rou Pian 水煮肉片 - Sliced pork in a very spicy broth served with bok choy or cabbage usually

Jiuzhaigou

If there is really a fairyland in the world,it's must be Jiuzhaigou Valley. It's located in the Northwest of Sichuan Basin,400 kilometers away from Chengdu. It is an integration of green lakes, multi-layered waterfalls,thick forests and snow-mountains as well as peaceful Tibetan villages. The valley is home to a great variety of plants and rare animals, such as the giant panda, lesser panda, golden monkey, and antelope.
Jiuzhaigou was listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

Ya'an Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center

There are two Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in Sichuan,one is Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center,the other one is in Bifengxia,120 km south west to Chengdu.

Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center is the biggest one in China. Currently,there are ab...

There are two Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in Sichuan,one is Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center,the other one is in Bifengxia,120 km south west to Chengdu.

Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center is the biggest one in China. Currently,there are about 120 Giant Pandas in the center,21 of them are new born cubs this year. Unlike the Chengdu city,Bifengxia is quite cool temperature in Summer due to its high altitude, so giant panda can keep active there,as they dislike hit.

The breeding and research center is inside a nature reserve, with very pretty nature,forest and mountain,waterfall,wild lives. If you are lucky enough you may find a Giant Panda in the wild when hiking in the nature reserve.

Jiuzhaigou Valley

There is a chinese saying: "九寨归来不看水." It means: You have no wish to visit any other lakes after viewing the Jiuzhaigou Valley. The colourful lakes and snow mountains in Jiuzhaigou make it like a fairyland in the world, espacially in autumn, the leaves change colour into yellow, orange, red...make...

Jiuzhaigou takes it's name from the nine tibetan villages in the valley. Jiu means nine, zhai means village, gou means valley.

As a most popular scenic spot in China, the per day visitors number was once up to 30,000 in the national day of 2013! This made a big trouble for the park at that time, so as such popular place to go in China, you'd better not to go there in chinese national holiday, otherwise you can only see people mountain and people sea(人山人海)!

And the last thing to remind you is: even the park is close at 5:30pm, but usaully the workers in the park will ask you to take the last sightseeing bus at 4:30 in the park to go down if you are still at somewhere far from the gate , because it is really a big park, it gonna take you quite a long time to visit along the way back. So if you want to visit the whole spots in the park, better to hurry up when visiting.

Emei Shan Scenic Spot

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

It's the nearest Giant Panda's Base form downtown of chengdu，more and details you can check the official website by www.panda.org.cn.

TIPS:the best time to see them is 9 am...

It's the nearest Giant Panda's Base form downtown of chengdu，more and details you can check the official website by www.panda.org.cn.

TIPS:the best time to see them is 9 am——10 am.

Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture( some would like to write it as Garzê), it is located in Sichuan Province of southwestern China, the capital is Kangding, 470km away from Chengdu, about 5 hours drive. The population is around 880,000, with Tibetans accounting for 77.8%

.the count...

.the counties Daocheng, Yading, Xiangcheng, are regarded as the Shangri-La because the novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton in 1933. It has a lot of tour resources such as Gongga Snow mountain(7556 m), Danba, Tagong grassland etc. Ganzi has the first highway from Ya'an to the capital of Tibet Lhasa.

Ganzi was traditionally part of the historical region of Kham in eastern Tibet. It has deep Tibetan culture and history.

Mt.Siguniang( four girls)

Mt. Siguniang( Four Maidens Mountain) is situated in the middle of Mt.Qionglai Range in the buffer zone between the west Sichuan Plateau and the mountainous area on the rim of Sichuan Basin, where Xiaojin County and Wenchuan County of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan P...

The name of Siguniang( four maidens , means the guardian deity of mountains in the Jiarong dialect of Tibetan language. In fact, the mountain is comprised of four peaks standing side by side like four girls. The peak of the Fourth Sister, with a summit elevation of 6,250 meters above sealevel, is the highest of Mt.Qionglai Range. Of all the mountains in Sichuan, it ranks second only to Mt.Gonga, “King of Mountains in Sichuan”, which is 7,556 meters above sea level. Its reputation is “Queen of Mountains in Sichuan”. The other three peaks, Mt. Third Sister, Mt.Second Sister, and Mt. Elder Sister, are 5,664, 5,454, and 5,355 meters above sea level.

As a region inhabited by the Tibetan, Qiang, Hui, Yi and Han People, with the Tibetans as the major ethnic group, Mt. Siguniang also nurthres and cherishes the old and simple folk customs of the ethnic minorities.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
…
Next page
Last page

Sichuan Province Articles

What is the best time to visit Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Reaserch Base?

For the best TIME in a day and best MONTHS in a year to see pandas: Giant Pandas give us an impression as lovely and cute for their unique appealing markings, but also a lazy bone due to they spend half of their time to sleep in a day. Nobody want to go so far away to Chengdu but just see some sleeping pandas, right?So better to notice their time schedule: when are they eating and active, when are they sleeping!

In the breeding center, panda's first feeding time starts at 9:00am~9:30am, they keep eating untill 11:00am, then fall into sleep untill the second feeding time, 2:30pm~3:00pm.

So the best time to set off from Chengdu downtown hotel is 8:00am~8:30am, around half hour drive to there just catch up their first feeding time. Or set off after lunch to be there at 3:00pm to see the awake pandas.

For the BEST MONTHS in a year to see pandas and the SURPRISE is waiting for you:

The first time everybody see the few days old giant panda must be surprised, is this the new born cub of giant panda?! A tiny pink rat???

Giant pandas usually gave birth to cubs in July and August, so when you arrive there at the right months then you can see the giant pandas in most age varies:

In late July: the 1 week old pandas, the 1 year old pandas, 2 years old pandas....

In early August: 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 year, 2 years....

In middle August: 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 month, 1 year...

In late August: 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 month, 40 days, 1 year...

In September: weeks, months, years...

In October: months, years...

THE 8 PICTURES BELOW in front show giant panda at 8 different ages, in order：

1 day, 2 days, 1 week, 1 month, 40 days, 80 days, 90 days, half year old.

Tourists can look at them through a glass wall, photogragh without flash is allowed.

The last picture shows the new born cubs from the same year.

九寨沟行程小贴士 Travel Tips for Visitors to Jiu Zhaigou Valley

As so many visitors are interested in visiting Jiu Zhaigou Valley, i have prepared some useful tips for everybody, hope it can help you with your trip in Sichuan!

...

As so many visitors are interested in visiting Jiu Zhaigou Valley, i have prepared some useful tips for everybody, hope it can help you with your trip in Sichuan!

1.出发时间比较早, 九寨沟的出发时间都比较早，如果您是入住酒店，请自行提前通知酒店为您提供路餐作为早餐，早上到前台处自行领取。当地条件较为艰苦，蔬菜较少，且口味不是很好，建议客人自带些干粮或零食（400多公里：水泥和沥青盘山公路）。
1. You need to leave early for Jiu Zhaigou from Chengdu, if you live in the hotel in Chengdu,its better for you to ask them to prepare the takeaway breakfast for you. Living condition in Jiu Zhaigou Valley is not very good, they don’t have various vegetables, and the dishes don’t taste very well, its better for you to bring some foods or snacks. (Over 400km, cement and asphalt winding road on the mountains in highland.)

2.九寨沟属藏区条件较差，限电限水，限时供应热水，热水一般为晚9点至11点间供应，沿线提倡绿色环保，酒店不提供一次性洗漱用品，请游客自备。
2. Living condition in Jiu Zhaigou is not as good as in cities, there will be limits offering electric power and hot water everyday. Generally the hot water is available from 9pm to 11pm, in order to protect the local environment, the hotels there wont offer one-time toiletries, please prepare your own toiletries.

3.成都至九寨沟的路程较远，大部分为山路，如您要晕车，请务必携带晕车药。旅游旺季车辆增多，有可能会堵车，导致用餐时间较晚或回成都的时间较晚，敬请理解。
3.It’s a long way from Chengdu to Jiu Zhaigou by drving, most of the roads are in the moutains, if you may have car-sick, it’s very necessary for you to keep some carsick medicine with you. During the popular travel season, it’s common to meet traffic jams, which will make itinerary delayed, please try to understand.

4.因其特殊的气候条件，酒店内部有潮湿的现象，如对住宿要求较高的您，建议升级标准。
4. Because of its special climate, it’s very common that the facilities inside the rooms are humid, if you have high demand for hotels, its better for you to upgrade your rooms or hotels.

5.当地属于高原地区。如果您要预防高原反应的发生，请在出发前自行准备抗高原药品。
5. Jiu Zhaigou locates in highland, if you may have altitude stress, please prepare some anti-altitude stress medicine with you.

6.九寨沟分为三条沟，单程35公里，沟内每个景点都有一个观光车上下的车站，凭观光车票,当日可在任一站点自由换乘，每辆观光车都有讲解导游。游览景区内三条沟的先后顺序，完全根据观光车调度人员临时安排分沟游览，这样也能更好的分散游客，让您在拍照的时候舒心一些。观光车一般是到每条沟最高景点下车，然后往下走游览，所以走路也不会觉得累。
6.Jiu Zhaigou has three branches, one-way 35km, every travel spot has a tour bus station,with the ticket you buy at the gate, you can change into any tour bus at the stations, each tour bus has a guide. The order of visiting the three branches of the valley mainly depends on the dispatchers of the tour buses, in order to spread the visitors in Jiu Zhaigou, which is also better for you to take pictures. Generally the tour bus will go to the highest part of each valley, and then you can walk down and start your visit, so you wont feel too tired.

7.九寨沟景区最佳的游览方式还是自由活动，乘坐的观光车运行方式和城里的公交车是一样的，因此导游也无法全程陪同。
九寨沟内推荐游览路线：沟口乘车---原始森林乘车---箭竹海观倒影走栈道或乘车---熊猫海乘车---五花海乘车---珍珠滩走栈道看完瀑布后走栈道至镜海停车场乘车---诺日朗旅游服务中心乘车---长海步行---五彩池乘车---诺日朗瀑布乘车---老虎海走栈道---树正瀑布、水磨房步行至树正群海走栈道---火花海乘车---芦苇海乘车---盆景滩乘车---宝镜岩乘车---出沟。
7.The best way to visit Jiu Zhaigou is to look around freely, the tour buses there work exactly like the buses in city, so even the tour guide can’t walk with you all the time (especially when the guide guides a large group.)
The recommended routes: Tour bus at the gate---Primeval Forest---Fargesia Lake (or Arrow-bamboo Lake) ---Panda Lake---Five-flower Lake---Pearl shoal---Mirror Lake---Nuo Ri Lang Travel Service Center---Long Lake---Multi-color Pond---Nuo Ri Lang Waterfall---Tiger Lake---Shu Zheng Waterfall---Sparkling Lake---Reed Lake---Bonsai Lake---Bao Jing Rock---Go out.

8.九寨沟天气变化频繁；请备好保暖衣物、雨伞、防晒霜，太阳镜等物品；可自备感冒药、治腹泻和创口贴等药品。
8. The weather in Jiu Zhaigou is very changeable, please bring enough warm clothes, umbrellas, sun cream, and sunglasses and prepare some cold or diarrhea medicine and band-aids with you.

9.九寨沟景区内诺日朗餐厅用餐，自助餐60元/人起，用餐比较简单，而且会影响您的游览时间，建议您自带干粮进沟。
9. If you are going to have meals in Nuo Ri Lang Restaurant inside Jiu Zhaigou, the price for the buffet is at least 60yuan/person, the dishes are plain and it may waste the time for you to visit, it’s better for you to bring some foods by yourself.

10.九寨景区禁止吸烟，有吸烟习惯的客人请忍耐，或是到专门的吸烟区，否则会受到高额罚款。九寨沟是世界自然遗产，爱它您就保护它。
10. You are not allowed to smoke inside Jiu Zhaigou Valley, if you have smoking habit, please go to the smoking area, or you will get a hefty fine. Jiu Zhaigou is World Natural Heritage, please protect it and love it.

Which is the better place for you to see panda?

There're 2 popular places to see the panda, that is chengdu panda base and Bifengxia panda base.
Chengdu panda base (short for C), is about 40mins drive away from the city, and bifengxia panda base (short for B) is about 2.5 hour drive away from chengdu city.
Both C and B is similar in design, you can visit pandas in different ages in different enclosures. Even though B is located more close to forest, but the panda base is similar like C.

So what's the differece between C and B?
B has about 180 pandas, and C has about 140 pandas, but for visitors, normally you can only see around 30 pandas both in B and C.
B has the best of the best Volunteer programme, so if you wanna do volunteer work, B is the better choice.
In B, there're 3 donation programme, that is:
you can make 1000rmb donation, to have a picture sit beside with a panda around 2 year old;
3000rmb, to have a picture sit beside with a panda around 1 year old;
5000rmb, you can go inside the enclosure to play with the panda around 1 year old and hug and play for about 3mins.

In C, there's only one donation programme, that is exactly same as 3000rmb donation programme, but in chengdu panda base, you only need to make 2000rmb donation.

Normally C is very crowded, especially on weekends, and B has less visitors, so if you do like quite atmosphere, B is the better place.

What's more, you can also see some red pandas in C.

I hope this would be helpful to some of you. I'd like to share more information of pandas with you, Cause I love panda!

This article is originally retained by the panda tourism expert http://www.sichuanpanda.com/ writing reprinted.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
…
Next page
Last page

Top Sichuan Province Tours

$200 Per Day

CHENGDU, A PANDA CITY, A GOURMET CITY, A TEA CITY, LOOKING FOWARD TO YOUR ARRIVAL

Chengdu, with an area of 12,400 square kilometers and a polulation of about 14,170,000 is not just the biggest provincial capital in west China, but also the only city in the history of China whose name has reminded the same for 3,000 years since its establishment. In Chinese, "Cheng" means "success or successful" and "Du" means "big city or capital". This "Successful City" boasts a long history. It is believed that everything about Chengdu has their origin from "Sanxingdui Ruins", from where you can deeply discover the history story of Chengdu.

Giant pandas definitely are the best calling card and trademark of Chengdu. Every year, million of people are attracted by giant pandas to spend their holidays here, go sightseeing here, make investment here and even settle here permanently. The reason is that for people around the world, the charm of giant pandas cannot be replaced by anything else.

Various kinds of wonderful food shall be another reason attracting you to visit Chengdu. Of the four most famous schools of culinery art in China (Beijing cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Guangdong cuisine), Sichuan cuisine boasts tongue-numbing, hot, delicate and fresh taste and a variety of flavors, as "each dish has its unique taste and no two dishes have the same flavor." Such spcial flavors as fish-flavored, gongbao (with peanuts), and water-boiled are incomparable at home and abroad.

"The teahouses in Sichuan top the world, and those in Chengdu Top Sichuan." This widespread saying not only points out the status of Chengdu's teahouses but also the inseverable ties between Chengdu culture and tea. Like bars in Paris and cafes in Vienna, teahouse add a touch of refinement and leisureliness to Chengdu, an ancient yet modern metropolis. The practice of driking tea prevailed in Sichuan as earlt as prior to the Qin and Han Dynasties.

Wish you can have a nice trip in Chengdu. You will love it.