6-Day Sichuan Highlight Tour-Chengdu,/Jiuuzhaigou/Huanglong/Giant panda/Leshan Giant Buddha

Tour Description

D1, Chengdu-Wenchuan-Maoxian-Songpan-Jiuzhaigou, in total about 8 hours' driving on the way
After breakfast drive to Jiuzhaigou. It takes about 8 hours to drive from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou, and you will see the countryside of Sichuan Province, including farmland, the great river-Min Jiang, high mountains, villages, grassland, etc. You will also see the areas damaged by the 2008 earthquake. Stay overnight at a hotel outside Jiuzhaigou National Park.

D2, Visit Jiuzhaigou National Park
Spend the whole day visiting Jiuzhaigou National Park, and see the beautiful lakes, waterfalls, forests, mountains, as well as the Tibetan villages inside the park. This is a very big park with a total of about 114 lakes and numerous waterfalls. Therefore it's impossible for us to see everything within just one day. As a result, we will choose the most beautiful ones to see and walk around, such as 箭竹海-Arrow Bamboo Lake and waterfalls, 熊猫海-Panda Lake, 五花海-Five-colored Lake, 诺日朗瀑布-Nuorilang Waterfall, 树正群海-Shuzheng Lakes, etc. Stay overnight at the same hotel as yesterday. In the evening, you may watch the Tibetan and Qiang Minority Cultural Show and learn more about the two ethnic groups inhabiting in this area-the Tibetan people and the Qiang people.

D3:  Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong, stay overnight in Maoxian

After breakfast drive to Huanglong Park, and it takes about 2.5 hours from Jiuzhaigou to Huanglong. Have lunch at a restaurant outside Huanglong Park, and then spend about 4 hours visiting Huanglong Park. You may choose to walk up or take the cable car up. The entrance of Huanglong Park is already about 3100 meters above sea level, and the most beautiful lake--- Five Colored Lake (五彩池) is about 3570 meters above sea level, which is the highest place inside Huanglong Park tourists can walk up to. This is a much smaller park compared to Jiuzhaigou Park, and some people are disappointed because they think it's not as beautiful as Jiuzhaigou and in addition walking here is much more difficult because of the much-higher altitudes with less oxygen in the air. After taking the cable car up, you will still need to walk for about 45 minutes to the highest point, and then you may walk all the way down to the entrance before driving for Maoxian, where you will stay overnight.

D4: Maoxian-Chengdu，on the way visit -Taoping Qiang Minority Village, and Yingxiu Earthquake Remains
Visit  Taoping Qiang Minority Village on the way back to Chengdu and you may have lunch here today. This is an ideal place for you learn about the lifestyle and culture of the Qiang people, the population of whom now is about 300,000. You will see their unique architectures here, esp their watchtowers. Some of the houses and watchtowers are over 1000 years old and they survived the 8.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred in this area on May 12, 2008.

In the afternoon take a walk at the town of Yingxiu, which is the epicenter of the 2008 earthquake. Today you can still see the remains of an old middle school, and you can personally feel how powerful that earthquake was. All the other buildings here are newly built, including schools, the hospital, restaurants, and apartment buildings.

D5: Chengdu-Leshan, visit Leshan Giant Buddha
Today drive for about 2.5 hours south of Chengdu to visit Leshan Giant Buddha, which is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, and has a long history of 1200 years. Carved from a rock cliff, the statue is as high as 71 meters. In front of the statue is the confluence of three big rivers, which join in Leshan before flowing south and meeting the Yangtze.

In the evening you may watch Sichuan opera show if interested. The most famous part of the opera show is its face-changing,which is very unique and can only be seen in Sichuan Opera, despite the various kinds of operas in China.

D6, Chengdu city tour, including Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center, People's Park, Wide and Narrow Alleys, and Jinli Street before sending to airport.

In the morning visit Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center and see the cute giant pandas as well as the small pandas (also known as red pandas) at the park.

In the afternoon visit People Park, which is a perfect place for you to learn about the local culture and local people's life. You will see many locals singing, dancing, or drinking tea here. After that take a walk at Wide and Narrow Alleys, which are actually two streets with small shops, restaurants and bars. The houses here are of old style, some of which were built in the 1920's and 1930's.

Then take a walk at Jinli Street, which is considered by many people to be a must-see place in Chengdu. There are many nice souvenir shops, restaurants selling Chengdu snacks, bars, teahouses, etc here.  You may also take a walk at the Tibetan Street nearby, where many Tibetan people in Chengdu run their shops and restaurants.

Attractions Visited in This Tour

•  Huanglong
•  Jiuzhaigou Norilang Restaurant
•  Giant Panda Breeding Center and Research Base
•  Taoping Qiang Village
•  Leshan Giant Stone Buddha

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