West Sichuan Road Trip

Elizabeth Hamstra
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Practical Information

We did this road trip over eight days with both a driver and a guide, and I would highly recommend doing the same. You spend a lot of time on the road, travelling through spectacular high-altitude landscapes, and our guide knew countless temples, viewpoints, and hidden spots that we would never have found on our own. If you would like a recommendation for an agent, a driver or guide, feel free to contact me.
We visited in mid-April, which is considered the low season. It may not be the region at its absolute best: there is less water, less greenery, and of course no autumn colours. But the scenery was stil breathtaking. More importantly, it was incredibly quiet. Several guides told us that during the high season (later in spring, throughout the summer, and especially in autumn) the crowds can become overwhelming. While the landscapes may be more colourful, it can be much harder to enjoy them. For that reason, I would strongly recommend travelling in the low season. The lack of tourists gave everything a peaceful, almost spiritual atmosphere. We often found ourselves alone in beautiful places, with only the occasional monk or local resident around.
We took altitude sickness medication for part of the trip. If you are concerned about how you might react to the altitude, it is worth considering.
Pack for every season. On a single day, temperatures can easily range from around 0°C to 25°C, depending on your location and elevation.
It is also a good idea to carry tissues or toilet paper and to be prepared for basic facilities.
Even though we stayed in comfortable hotels and enjoyed excellent food throughout the trip, this is not a luxury destination. In many places you will find very local conditions, both in terms of accommodation and infrastructure. That is part of the experience. If you enjoy travelling beyond the polished tourist trail, you will probably love it here.

Pictures from different parts of our journey.

Our Itinerary

Day 1: arrival in Chengdu, train to Jiuzhaigou, car to hotel (night in Jiuzhagou)

Day 2: Full day in Jiuzhaigou (night in Jiuzhagou)

Day 3: Huanglong, temple close to Huanglong, and Songpan ancient town, train to Chengdu (night in Chengdu)

Day 4: Taoping Qiang Village and Bipenggou (night in Guergou)

Day 5: Lixian-Danba: Jiaju Tibetan Village (night in Danba)

Day 6: Tagong, Bamei Tibetan Market, Tagong Monastery, Tagong Grassland, Xinduqiao (night in Xinduqiao)

Day 7: Luding, Zheduo mountain, Kangding, Luding Bridge. Back to Chengdu (night in Chengdu)

Jiuzhaigou

Jiuzhaigou

Jiuzhaigou is a huge natural park. Our amazing guide Peter took us to the terminal with the shuttle buses. I have never seen a place being that well organised. There are basically three areas to explore in the park, and we were going to take the bus to three different stops to explore each of them. There are many buses and many stops, so it's very easy to get around.

Because we love walking and hiking, we only took the buses when necessary, but you could also skip parts of the hike. I would recommend not doing that if you are fit enough, as the little pathways away from the main viewing points were so worth it. So my advice would be: walk as much as you can. Just use the buses between the main areas.

We were sad to hear that some tourists only spend a few hours in Jiuzhaigou just to take the perfect picture. I would stay as long as you can and fully immerse yourself in the spectacular surroundings.

Huanglong and Songpan

We arrived a day earlier, and the train station is actually much closer to Huanglong than to Jiuzhaigou, which was still a two-hour drive away. On our way, we saw a temple and were very curious, so we asked our guide if we could visit it today, on our way to Huanglong. He agreed, and we didn't regret it. We didn't see any tourists there, only monks.

While we were driving, we suddenly saw... SNOW! And we were as excited as little kids.

Temple on the way

Huanglong is famous for its turquoise travertine pools. To be honest, April is not the best time of year, as a lot of them are dry or, in our case, covered by snow. But the main one was still very beautiful, and the snow on the mountains made the experience extra special.

We took the cable car up and continued our way on foot. There are stairs and it's an easy hike. We could see some people struggling a bit with their breathing because of the altitude, but we were still taking our pills, so we were okay. Halfway up the climb to the plateau, there is a lovely temple you can visit as well.

There are no real restaurants, but you can get some snacks up the mountain and there are plenty of toilets.

Huanglong

After Huanglong, we had lunch at a local restaurant that was so good that we overate. We then continued our journey and stopped at Songpan, a lovely little town with a market where locals can buy fresh food and other things. Unfortunately, there was construction work going on along the main road, but we still enjoyed exploring the smaller streets and learning more about the fresh produce and Chinese medicine. On the way, we saw many yaks along the road.

Songpan, lunch, and the yak that is my friend now

Taoping Qiang Village and Bipenggou

We woke up in Chengdu, and met our new and fantastic guide Hugo at 8am to start our trip to Taoping and Bipenggou.

Taoping is a nice little village and perfect for a short stroll. I think it's probably busy in high season, but there wasn't much to do when we were there. We enjoyed the peace and quiet but probably wouldn't have visited if it hadn't been on our way.

Taoping

And then we arrived at Bipenggou. We'd heard many things about Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, but much less about Bipenggou. I can now say that Bipenggou deserves much more attention, because it was absolutely spectacular!

We took a shuttle bus up, walked around the lake, and then took another bus up to the snowy peaks. I must admit that part of the overwhelming and almost mystical experience definitely had something to do with the lack of crowds. Especially at the top of the mountain, we felt like the only people on planet Earth, and we just walked around in awe.

Incredible views at Bipenggou

Danba: Jiaju Tibetan Village

Let me start by saying that this whole Western Sichuan journey is one big road trip, and that's part of the experience. Wherever we were going, we were always stunned by the incredible views from the car. So even if I only describe the places we visited, please do realise that the journey between those places was spectacular as well. Especially when you, like me, are in the great company of two amazing friends, a perfect guide like Hugo, and a safe driver with a comfortable car.

Roadtrip! On our way to Jiaju

And what an amazing little town Jiaju Tibetan Village was! We hiked a little bit to a viewpoint, drove to another one, had a little stroll before and after dinner, breathed in the fresh air, and became completely relaxed. Again, we didn't see any crowds, just very friendly local people who sold us some nuts and souvenirs. I could have spent much longer here, just enjoying the calm and healthy environment.

In and around the village

I'll talk a little bit more about hotels and restaurants later, but I do want to mention our hotel in Jiaju. There aren't many suitable options in low season, and we were booked into a local homestay owned by three sisters. We absolutely loved it here! Of course, it's not a fancy hotel, but we don't care about that anyway. The rooms were comfortable enough, and there was a nice seating area between the rooms. We had dinner and breakfast in the kitchen, next to the stove, where one of the sisters cooked for us. The food was delicious and it was super cosy, and the whole experience added to the charm of our stay in this town.

The hotel and the kitchen.

Tagong and Xinduqiao

After a little morning walk and a delicious breakfast in Jiaju Village, we drove to Tagong and Xinduqiao. A major attraction here are the grasslands, which are not very green in early April, but still absolutely beautiful!

Our first stop along the way was a beautiful monastery. We barely saw anybody else there and mainly encountered monks. Younger monks were attending lessons, and it felt like a real, living monastery rather than a tourist attraction. We got a little glimpse into the monks' everyday life.

Daily life in a peaceful monastery

We continued our way to Tagong, and after a lovely lunch at a Tibetan restaurant, we visited the famous Tagong Temple. This is also a beautiful building, more centrally located and more popular with visitors. It's definitely worth a visit, but I was more impressed by the other monastery.

Tibetan lunch and Tagong Temple

We walked up a little bit and had an amazing view of the grasslands. When we walked down again, Hugo asked us if we wanted to see the young monks playing football. Of course we did! Again, we barely saw any tourists, just some monks having fun. It was also impressive to see how they could keep running and exercising so high up in the mountains. The altitude didn't seem to bother them at all.

Goal!

Kangding and Luding bridge (passing through Zheduo Mountain)

We were so sad to go back to Chengdu. Not because we don't like Chengdu, but because we didn't want this trip to end. Luckily, the journey back to Chengdu was breathtaking once again.

We stopped at Luding Bridge, which was a nice and interesting visit. But before that, we passed through Zheduo Mountain. Because of the fog, we decided not to hike too much, but we absolutely enjoyed the views around the mountain.

Hugo then took us to a temple that wasn't on the itinerary because, by now, he knew exactly what kinds of things we enjoyed seeing. The temple was beautiful, there was a celebration going on, and the whole experience was very touching. Sitting there in this serene place, looking out over the mountains, I think we were all a bit emotional on this last day.

Serendipity

Last stop before Chengdu: Kangding and Luding Bridge. With, once again, stunning views on the way there. I won't say too much, but I think the pictures will show you that the bridge experience is very different for different people. Keep that in mind when you cross it ;)

Happy on the bridge- anxious on the bridge- crying on the bridge

Hotels and restaurants

As stated before, part of the charm of travelling in this area, and especially in low season, is that the experience is very local and there are no fancy hotels and restaurants. We still had the best time and enjoyed every single place we stayed at. From the homestay with the three sisters I mentioned before, to the colourful hotel somewhere along a main road.

Then there was a 'luxury' hotel that was huge and completely empty, which made it feel like something from The Shining. We had a foot massage in a huge space with dozens of chairs and nobody else there. We also experienced a five-star hotel with amazing rooms and a spa where I had the best massage I've ever had, but also with a guy in a white T-shirt smoking a cigarette behind the reception desk. It was an eclectic mix of places to stay, and we loved it.

And then the food. All the hotels offered a tasty breakfast, some with huge buffets and others with a simple noodle soup. But everything tasted great! Hugo picked great restaurants for our lunches and dinners too. He suggested great meals, but sometimes we would just sit down and the owner would simply bring us the 'food of the day'. Although our weak Western bellies still struggled a bit with days of oily food, we enjoyed every bite.

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