17-day Biking in Northern Sichuan

Speaking of the panda, the phrase “National Treasure of China” will hit our minds. Panda is a kind of precious wild animal species that requires a demanding living environment. Therefore, China set up many Breeding and Research Bases to provide an ideal and most suitable natural living circumstance for the Chinese Giant Panda, the base in Sichuan Province is included.

 

The Sichuan Panda Base locates 10 km away from the city center, in which there are over 100 rare wild animal species, including the giant panda, the red panda, the white stork, the white swan, the black swan, the Grus nigricollis, the peacock and the mandarin duck etc, and more than 300 rarely seen higher plants. To provide a clearer picture of the giant panda and to make people pay due attention to the protection of the endangered wild animal, a series of exhibits of the basic information about giant panda is conducted in the 7000 m²-wide base.

The lovely and charmingly naïve pandas are waiting for your visit in the green bamboo wood with flowers blooming around and the birds singing in the skies. The feeding time, from 8:30 to 10:00 in the morning, is the best time for you to have a close look at them, but do not disturb them.

Note:
1. No smoking
2. No littering
3. Do not make any noise
4. Keep away from the lawn
5. No feeding the Giant Panda or other wild animals
6. No picking the flowers, neither can you capture the insects

Opening Hours: 08:00 -- 18:00

Ticket Price:
58 CNY for individual visitor
53 CNY for group visitors
29 CNY for group student visitors and people during 60 and 70 years old
Free for the people older than 70, kids below 1.2 meter, the retired, the disabled and the soldiers

Location: No. 1375, Panda Ave. Chengdu City, Sichuan

Transportation:　
Bus No. 902 from the New South Gate (xinnanmen) Station, bus No. 198 and 532 and taxi (30 CNY from the city center) will bring you here directly.
 

As the largest stone sculpture of Buddha in the world, the Leshan Giant Buddha, sitting at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers, costs 90 years to complete. The idea of the creation of the giant Buddha sculpture is out of the popularity of the Buddhist in Tang Dynasty.

 

The splendid and gorges giant Buddha is as tall as 71 meters, with a head of 14.7-meter-tall and 10-meter-wide, the upper surface of the feet of which can hold more than 100 people. The giant sculpture is constructed based on the shape of a Maitreya who is depicted barefooted with drooping ears and has his hair arranged in a spiral topknot. The name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit maitri that means mercy. His worship was especially popular during the 4th to 7th century, and his images are found throughout the Buddhist world.

On both sides of the giant Buddha, there are two 10-meter-tall Dharmapalas status and hundreds of stone sculptures on the cliff, providing tourists a feast of sculpture art. Seen from far away, the Buddha, circled by clouds and mist, is like the real Buddha sitting in a wonderland with bodyguards on both sides.

Opening Hours: 09:00 to 16:50

Ticket Price:
90 CNY for the entrance
50 CNY for the students, people from 60 to 69, the disabled
Free for the people over 70 years
10 CNY at weekends for the people holding the local ID card

Location: Leshan City, Sichuan Province

Transportation: Take the ferry from the docks in Leshan to either Lingyun Mountain or Wuyou Monastery and walk from there.
 

Du Fu, a celebrated poet in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), has left behind over 200 masterpieces of peoms for the later generations. Du Fu is known for the patriotism and his brilliant in poem. The most important factor of all about his work is compassion, which was especially inspirational for his fans.

 

As its name implies, the Thatched Cottage of Du Fu was Du Fu’s home a thousand years ago, while it is not so much a cottage as a museum that attracts numerous visitors. The exhibits here include a brief account of Du Fu's life and some of his original calligraphy and poems. The complex also contains three imposing statues of some of China's greatest poets; Du Fu, Li You and Huang Tingjian (the latter two were Song dynasty poets). Today, this is a pleasant site to visit, with nice buildings dotted about, teahouses and pleasant bamboo gardens to wander and explore. This site is also home to the Chengdu Du Fu society. The Thatched Cottage of Du Fu stretches out its arms to welcome visitors from all over the world.

A garden-like museum full of cultural breath is for showing people how brilliant and celebrated Du Fu is and for making your amazing expedition meaningful.

Opening Hours:
8:00 -- 18:00 (in winter)
7:30 -- 19:00 (in summer)

Ticket Price:
60 CNY for adults
30 CNY for students
Free for the people holding the local Older Card and the non-local people older than 70

Location: No. 38, Tsinghua Road, Chengdu City

Transportation: Bus No. 17, 35, 82, 84 and 301 will bring you here directly.
 

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System, constructed in Qin Dynasty around 2,200 years ago, is a shinning pearl in the irrigation development of China, which is also praised as the “Originator of the Culture in Irrigation Work”. As the earliest irrigation work without dam in the ancient China, Dujiangyan has been making the greatest contribution to the development of the economy in Chengdu--the land of abundance.

Having witnessed centuries’ changes, the gorgeous Dujiangyan likes a record of the history attracting a growing number of tourists with the picturesque and splendid landscape. On November 29, 2000, Dujiangyan was listed as the world cultural heritage by UNESCO. Nowadays, Dujiangyan is not only the irrigation work, but also a popular scenic spot with many charming sceneries around--just like many stars twinkling around the moon.

The characterized members of the stars are the fish-mouth-like dyke--can solve the problem of irrigation in drought seasons, the bottle-neck-like sluice gate--can control the volume of inflowing water, the vent-like Feishayan--can release flood and silt from waterway to outer river, the 500-meter-long Anlan Suspension Bridge (called Couple’s Bridge)--has experienced hundreds years’ history since Song dynasty (960-1234), the garden-like Erwang-Temple with peaceful environment, and the 1800-year-old Dragon-Taming Temple.

Opening Hours: 09:00 -- 17:50

Ticket Price:
90 CNY for adults
45 CNY for kids between 1.1-1.4 meter, people between 60-69 years, the disabled and the students

Location: West Dujiangyan City, Sichuan

Transportation: Shuttle buses, subway and bus No. 1 to No. 17, 101, 102, 103, 201 and 202 will bring you here directly.
 

Wangjiang Pavilion with a height of 39 meters is the most shinning architecture in the Wangjiang Park that covered by green bamboo woods. Wangjiang Pavilion, built in Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), was designed as an octagonal shape with the overhanging eaves, sharp golden roof, and various exquisite figure carvings and clay sculptures of animals decorating each floor. Located on the bank of Jinjiang River, Wangjiang Pavilion provides an ideal angle for river viewing, from which it derived the present name “Wangjiang Lou”.

This splendid pavilion was built in memory of Xue Tao, a brilliant female poet in Tang Dynasty who has left behind many great poems. There are more than 100 kinds of bamboo around the Wangjiang Pavilion for Xue Tao has a passion for bamboo in her life. Around the Wangjiang Pivilion, out lay a group of memorial buildings including Wuyunxiang Hall, Quanxiang chamber, Pipa pavilion among which there are house a large amount of steles, paintings, calligraphy, inscribed couplets and poems.

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 17:00

Ticket Price: 20 CNY

Location: Wangjiang Road, Chengdu City

Transportation: Bus No. 3, 18, 19, 31 and 35 will bring you here directly.

Covering 37,000 square meters, Wuhou Memorial Temple was built in the year of 233 in memory of Zhuge Liang, the most brilliant military counselor in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). Inside the temple, the magnificent and exquisitely designed buildings are hiding in the flourishingly towering pine trees, creating a historic environment with a strong breath of history.

 

In the exhibition zone, there are a lot of valuable historic relics, including the well-known couplets created by Du Fu, exquisite carvings and sophisticated stone inscriptions, the precious works of calligraphy and painting, the statuses of the celebrities in Three Kingdoms Period as well as the room with the original appearance in which Zhuge Liang lived. The exhibitions may cause an amazing feeling likes being back to the Three Kingdoms Period.

The temple displays the suppleness of the Chinese garden. There are numerous historical relics like horizontal cribbed boards, couplets, inscribed tablets, penmanship, furnaces, Chinese tripods, etc. The SanZui (Three-Best) horizontal inscribed board, Zhuge Liang's Lung Gun couplets, Chu Si Biao and the tomb of LiuBei are the most famous one. Today the Wuhou Temple is the most famous tourist attraction of Chengdu city. It is not only a site for people to commemorate Zhuge Liang, but also serves as a museum to the history of the Three Kingdoms Period.

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 18:00

Ticket Price: 60 CNY

Location: No. 231, Wuhouci Street, Chengdu City

Transportation:
Bus No.1, 10, 57, 82, 301, 334, 335, 503, 521, 901 and 904 will bring you here directly.
 

With two clean rivers running through and two green hills decorating, Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) Historic Interest Area, an ancient town full of ancient cultural architectures and custom, appeals to an increasing number of tourists from near and far. Huanglong Historic Interest Area consists of three charming parts that are free for visiting, namely the Custom Street, the Dragon Street and the core zone.

 

Along the Custom Street, various magnificent architectures built in different times will be a sumptuous art feast for the eyes, and the beautiful and yummy local snacks will increase your appetite greatly and make you reluctant to leave. Having traveled around the Custom Street, you will be attracted by the next station--Dragon Street, where there is a clean stream zigzagging through just like a water dragon. Along the both banks of the dragon stream, teahouses, local restaurants and specialties stores rank orderly like a comb.

Crossing the stone bridge, you will reach the core zone where the most shinning cultural heritages are waiting for you. The fish-skeleton-like lanes, the centuries-old dock and the ancient temples with old banyans around and street full of ancient local customs will be a memorable experience in your expedition. If you come here on the local festivals, the lovely local celebrations will amaze you a lot.

Opening Hours: 9:00 -- 16:30

Ticket Price: free　

Location: 40 km (25 miles) away from the city center of Chengdu

Transportation:
Shuttle bus from New South Gate (xin nan men) Station will bring you here directly (10 CNY).

Consisting of four mountains with the peak of 3099 meters and covering 154 square km, E-mei Mountain is praised as the finest mountain under heaven for the rarely seen picturesque landscapes in the precipitous topography. With two rivers circling, E-mei possesses marvelous scenes--the long peaceful valley, the curtain-like rushing waterfalls, the flourishing trees and blooming flowers—together with which the Buddhist temples form a beautiful picture.

 

E-mei Mountain together with Wutai Mount in Shanxi Province, Putuo Mount in Zhejiang Province and Hua Mount in Anhui Province is member of the mountains that are known for the Buddhist culture. The Buddhist Light is the most spectacular scene that can be seen when the tiny drops of water in the clouds reflect the sunshine forming many bow rings. The Buddhist Light together with the rarely seen Buddhist Lamp, the beautiful sunrise and mysterious sea of clouds appeals to an increasing Buddhists and tourists.

Owing to the high altitude, the gorgeous E-mei Mountain can experience different weather on the same day, thanks to which the wild animal and plant species can enjoy a favorable environment. Therefore, E-mei Mountain is hailed as the Wild Kingdom with more than 3000 wild plant species and over 2000 wild animal species living here. A lovely scene is that monkeys in groups would come to the tourists for foods in a harmonious way.

Come here for the blooming rarely seen flowers and flourishing trees and bamboos among which the lovely monkeys, beautiful butterflies, giant pandas and various birds are playing harmonious form a natural paradise.

Note:
1. The best time for traveling here is spring and autumn
2. The best time for sunrise--6:00 in summer, 7:00 in winter
3. The best time for clouds viewing--9:00-10:00 in the morning, 15:00-16:00 in the afternoon
4. The best time for Buddhist Light--9:00-10:00 in the morning, 15:00-16:00 in the afternoon
5. Make preparation for protecting yourself from the coldness, rain and hurt by the slippery roads.

Ticket Price: 150 CNY

Location: E-mei Mountain, Chengdu city

Transportation: You can come here by road, railway and boat from Chengdu easily.