The Journey in Western Sichuan

Premise

I have plenty of time, but no experience driving myself. The scenic spots on this trip have no highways connecting them and the distances are very long, so after careful consideration I chose to join a tour group. The original plan was to go to Daocheng Yading, but considering Yading’s high altitude (4000m+), and that it’s already winter (scenery not as good as autumn), I chose to go to Jiuzhaigou instead.

Why Sichuan?

I’ve never seen snow-capped mountains and really wanted to see what they look like, to see rime ice and waterfalls.

Summary

1. Don’t join a tour group, Don’t join a tour group, Don’t join a tour group.
2. All these scenic spots are very beautiful. Special note: Jiuzhaigou is only beautiful on sunny days, Bipenggou tickets are totally worth it.
3. Try to travel on weekdays when there are fewer people.
4. If you join a tour, don’t fall for the free gifts (hot pot) offered — it’s a trap.
5. Transportation is inconvenient and tiring. There are no highways between scenic spots, only national roads with lots of large trucks, many curves — if you get motion sickness, don’t come
6. If it snows, don’t go to Huanglong Scenic Area — the tickets are expensive and the only highlight, the Five-Color Pool, will be frozen.

The photos in this article are compressed but unedited. Equipment used: iPhone 14 Pro + Sony A7CM2 + Samyang FE35 1.8

If I Could Do It Again — My Itinerary

1. Chengdu
2. Bipenggou for 2 days (stay at Namuhu Hotel in the valley, take it slow, you can also see the sunrise on the mountain)
3. Chengdu

Itinerary

Day 1

1. Chengdu ☁️ 12°C ~ 20°C
2. Wenchuan ☀️ 3°C ~ 10°C
3. Bipenggou ☀️ -3°C ~ 7°C
4. Heishui ☀️ -3°C ~ 8°C

Got up at 7 AM to wash up, it was still dark in Chengdu.

Left Chengdu city at 8 AM, arrived in Lixian at 11:30. Had a meal at Yuxiang Restaurant by the roadside. The 4 of us ordered one spicy boiled fish (3 jin 6 liang, about 1.8 kg, 88 RMB per jin), a plate of fried cured meat, and a bowl of seaweed egg soup, total ¥400. (We didn’t realize the menu price was per jin, not per dish 😅). Fortunately, the taste was okay.

After eating, at 12:10 arrived at the scenic area, passed ticket check, and climbed some stairs to the bus stop. The bus left as soon as it was full. This bus was truly a mountainrollercoaster🎢 — the mountain road was very thrilling, everyone on the bus was screaming 😅, altitude rose over 1 km. The bus ended at Longwang Lake (see map below). When arriving at Longwang Lake, you can already see snow-capped mountains overhead. To reach the uphill bus stop for the next destination, you have to walk around the lake. If you arrive in the afternoon, don’t stay too long at Longwang Lake — the scenery further up is even more beautiful! Hurry up and move on!

Longwang Lake

Cover image, super beautifulCover image, super beautiful

Snow-capped mountains visible overheadSnow-capped mountains visible overhead

The mountains and water look like an oil paintingThe mountains and water look like an oil painting

Shanghaizi Waterfall

Although this waterfall is just beside the road, maybe about 100 meters away, at such a high altitude, climbing the slope to the waterfall is still a bit tiring.

Longzui WaterfallLongzui Waterfall

Banjifeng PeakBanjifeng Peak

Panyang Lake

Chazigou PassChazigou Pass

There is a restaurant here where you can buy water and hot food.

We did not continue going up from here. Started descending at 3:30 PM, took the electric sightseeing car down plus the uphill bus. The descent took about 1 hour. Left for Heishui at 4:30 PM. After driving the winding mountain road of the national highway, we finally arrived at Heishui County town at 8:30 PM. After settling the luggage, we went downstairs for a local chicken hotpot dinner, which cost ¥173.

Day 2

1. Heishui ☀️ -3°C - 5°C
2. Dagu Glacier ☀️ -3°C - 4°C
3. Songpan ☁️ 0°C - 9°C
4. Jiuzhaigou Entrance ☁️ 0°C - 6°C

Map source: https://www.sc666.com/information/detail/icon/index.aspx?id=2322

Left at 8:30 AM, entered Dagu Glacier Scenic Area, after ticket check took the internal bus to Golden Monkey Lake, where there are many Tibetan macaques. Beware they may pick your pockets (really) 🤣

After watching the monkeys, took the bus to the next spot, Dagu Lake (not much to see there), just had a quick look. Then took the bus to the cable car station. There was a lot of yak dung on the road 🤣

Dagu LakeDagu Lake

After taking the cable car up, the altitude is over 4800 meters. If you feel dizzy from lack of oxygen, quickly use oxygen. It is very windy and cold up there, make sure to bring sunglasses, the snow reflection is very strong. Not protecting your eyes could cause snow blindness. Instant noodles cost 15 RMB per cup, just hot water is 3 RMB. It’s recommended to bring self-heating meals or dry food.

Day 3

1. Jiuzhaigou One-Day Tour ❄️☁️ -4°C - 0°C

Map source: http://www.qujiuzhai.com/122.html
PS. The official map has an error—the endpoints of Rize Valley and Zechawa Valley are reversed

After Jiuzhaigou, other waters don’t compare

This is the slogan of the scenic area. The various waters inside are indeed beautiful, 🥹 it would be perfect if it was sunny. I think the most magical thing about Jiuzhaigou is that although the water rushes turbulently through the mountain streams, it is not murky at all! It’s very clear!

The park opens at 8:30 AM. After ticket check, take the bus to enjoy the scenery along the way. When encountering tour groups, just let them go first. Buses come very frequently, one every minute. Sitting by the left window on the bus lets you enjoy the views of Shuzheng Valley, while the right window shows views of Rize Valley.

The bus follows the Y-shaped map to the far right top end at the Primeval Forest.

Primeval Forest

Actually, there’s no need to visit here because if you go to Changhai Lake, the scenery is the same!

When at the location shown in the second picture, I had the feeling shown below ⬇️, and the background music automatically played in my head 😄. As a southern Chinese, I haven’t seen snow or snowy weather for over 10 years:

Image from “Scarlet Heart”Image from “Scarlet Heart”

Panda Lake

Named because pandas like to drink water here.

Five Flower Lake

The audio guide on the bus said Five Flower Lake is the most beautiful spot in Jiuzhaigou, but today the weather was bad, the glare was very strong (if only I had a CPL filter 🥹), it lacked that deep, crystal-clear feeling where you can see the lakebed at a glance!

Pearl Shoal & Pearl Shoal Waterfall

Named Pearl Shoal because the splashing water droplets look like pearls.
Pearl Shoal Waterfall was a filming location for Journey to the West. Could it be Huaguo Mountain? 😯

After finishing Pearl Shoal and the waterfall, it was already 12 PM. We took the bus to Nuorilang Visitor Center for lunch. We ate 25 RMB bento boxes (3 dishes and 1 rice: stir-fried white tofu with doubanjiang, stir-fried chicken and potato with doubanjiang, stir-fried pork slices with black fungus and doubanjiang — basically all the same taste… 🫠)

Changhai Lake & Five Color Pool

Changhai LakeChanghai Lake

See, it looks just like Primeval Forest, but with a beautiful lake view.

Walked about 1 km to Five Color Pool. It is said that the water here is fed by underground springs, so it never freezes even in winter.

Five Color PoolFive Color Pool

Five Color PoolFive Color Pool

Shuzheng Waterfall

After visiting Shuzheng Waterfall, it started raining and snowing with heavy fog, visibility was zero, so we left the park. This time in Jiuzhaigou we didn’t get to see any breathtaking scenery, the weather just wasn’t on our side.

Day 4

1. Jiuzhaigou ☀️ -5°C - 5°C
2. Huanglong ⛅ -5°C - 6°C
3. Chengdu 🌧️ 7°C - 15°C

It snowed heavily at the high altitude of Jiuzhaigou last night, and the roads were covered with snow. We set off from Jiuzhaigou to Huanglong at 8:30. The road was slippery due to the snow, so we were stuck on the road for about an hour.

Scenery along the roadScenery along the road

12 Arrived at Huanglong Scenic Area, ordered a set of dumplings next to the ticket office, very unpalatable, and the portion was so small, as if it was for elementary school students 🫠
Took the cable car up the mountain, then took the sightseeing bus to the plank road and walked to the Five Color Pool.

⚠️ There is no water in the restrooms in Huanglong Scenic Area ⚠️

It costs another 40 yuan to buy the cableway down the mountain. 😠. I don’t think it’s worth the fare. Absolutely.

On the way back, I took a short break in Diehai Town.

Diehai TownDiehai Town

Diehai Town has a sad history. About 100 years ago, due to an earthquake, the entire town slid into the river and not many people escaped.

White YakWhite Yak

Although his owner dressed him up pink, he is a male 👸. 10 yuan for a ride (the picture is not mine). Moo, it looks very honest with short legs.

Luggage

🔴 is very important.

Clothing

Before traveling, check the weather forecast of the place you are going to and choose the thickness of clothes you should bring. The weather software I use is: Colorful Cloud Weather, which I personally think is quite accurate, although the weather in Tibet is unpredictable.

1. 🔴 1 down coat
2. 🔴 1 pair of windproof and warm trousers
3. 1 pair of big yellow boots (snow is very slippery, but I tested that big yellow boots are also very slippery on ice)
4. 🔴 1 pair of sunglasses (really bright in the snow)
5. 🔴 1 pair of gloves
6. 1 scarf

Toiletries

1. 🔴 Sunscreen (ultraviolet rays are very strong in plateau areas, don’t get yourself tanned after a few days of playing 🤣)
2. Facial cleanser, shampoo, shower gel, body lotion (hotel ones are generally not good, just buy travel size, especially convenient to carry)
3. 🔴 Lipstick, hand cream (really dry)
4. Disposable towel
5. Toothbrush (hotel ones are generally very hard and not easy to use)

Others

1. Power bank

2. Camera + lens (I brought 35 1.8 and 75 1.8, but I didn’t put the 75 1.8 on the whole trip 😅, I will consider renting a 35GM next time I go out, just one is enough)

3. Carry-on bag (oxygen cylinder, power bank, dry food, thermos cup)

4. Selfie stick/tripod (I didn’t bring it this time, and I regretted it when I needed it, such as shooting videos. If I have a selfie stick, I can sit in the position and stretch it directly to the front windshield to shoot without stretching my hands to shoot)

Fees

In addition, I drank a few cups of coffee and ate some snacks that are not written in the list.

💣 Step on the thunder 💣

1. The scenery of Jiuzhaigou on a cloudy day is greatly reduced

2. Although Jiuzhaigou is in the off-season on weekends, there are still many people

3. The Tibetan hot pot provided by the hostel only includes vegetarian dishes. If you eat meat, it costs ➕ 100 yuan, which is actually an extra plate of spliced ​​beef rolls from the supermarket. It is expensive, but it is very unpalatable. The soup base is bitter. I dare not eat it after a few bites. I originally wanted to eat yak hot pot 🥹

4. The 4-day and 3-night schedule is very tight, and most of the time is on the road

5. The hotel booked by the hostel is terrible, the air conditioning is not warm, the sewer smells, and the room is not soundproof.

6. After getting off the plane at Chengdu Tianfu Airport, the subway line 18 to Chengdu city is a loop line (that is, it has no terminal station and keeps running in circles). It has two sides (one side is the middle station where passengers will stop to get on and off, and the other side goes directly to Chengdu South Railway Station). If you want to go directly to the city, you must pay attention to the direct bus on the side. I only noticed it after I got on. It took me 1 and a half hours to get to the city station. I was so tired.

7. The portions of hot pot dishes in Chengdu are very large. Don’t order too much for one person. I ordered 6 dishes but only ate 4. I was full.

8. On the last day, the driver took us to the Cordyceps shop opened by his cousin (he said) to rest for half an hour. The aunt who was traveling with us bought about ¥5000 of Cordyceps (it seems to be 388/g). Of course, I didn’t buy anything. I was outside in the sun the whole time. I grew up eating mushrooms in the mountains. I also went to pick them myself (very fun). I have never bought mushrooms outside (except shiitake mushrooms). Before we went to the store, he asked us if we had drunk wild mushroom soup in Jiuzhaigou (trigger combo ). Because the hotel’s introduction page clearly stated that it would not take shopping, it was difficult to comment.

Photo software recommendation (iOS)

1. NOMO RAW

The iPhone’s sharpening is particularly severe, use this to turn off the sharpening effect. Paid software, if you don’t take photos often, don’t be impulsive. I remember it cost 14.99💲.

2. Spectre

It is developed by the same company as Halide. Its principle is to shoot Live Photo and then use the long exposure mode to synthesize static images to achieve the effect of long exposure. The silk-like flowing water in the article was shot with this software. It is very simple and easy to use. Free, there are advanced features that require subscription, but the free version is enough.

The effect is as follows ⬇️:

3. Blackmagic Camera

Free. Forgot to use this to record videos 😭, even with the built-in camera, the sharpening is still serious even when I choose 4K 60FPS.

Q&A

**Q: Where can I buy tickets for the scenic spot? **
A: I bought the tickets for Bipenggou on Ctrip for 130 yuan, and I bought tickets for other scenic spots on Aba Tourism Network WeChat official account.

**Q: Which scenic spot do you recommend the most? **
A: Bi! Peng! Gou! 130 yuan is really good!

**Q: How do I buy tickets for the Chengdu subway? **
A: I used the Shanghai bus card directly. In theory, as long as there is a Transportation Union logo on the bus card, it can be used in more than n cities across the country.

**Q: Is the food in the scenic spot delicious? Is it expensive? **
A: It tastes bad 🫠. Not expensive but not cheapExpensive. 1 grilled sausage costs 10 yuan.

**Q: How to get to Jiuzhaigou? **
A: If you depart from Chengdu, you can take a bus or drive yourself (about 9 hours by car), or you can take a plane to Huanglong Airport, and then transfer to Jiuzhaigou. The air tickets to Huanglong Airport are more expensive, but it is closer to Jiuzhaigou, about 2 hours by car. Huanglong Railway Station should be put into use in the summer or autumn of 2024, which will be more convenient.

**Q: Do you have altitude sickness? **
A: It depends on the person. I only feel dizzy at an altitude of 4800m+ on the Dagu Glacier, and there is no obvious feeling in other places. But even if you don’t feel altitude sickness, don’t rush when climbing the mountain, and don’t be stubborn.

**Q: Taxis at the exit of Jiuzhaigou? **
A: After leaving the Jiuzhaigou scenic area, I called a taxi back to the hotel and got on the taxi directly at the entrance of the scenic area. It said 15 yuan when I got up, and I said it was only 1.5 kilometers and 15 yuan? Why doesn’t your taxi use the meter? I said either you use the meter or tell me the real price, the taxi driver was vague, and I gave him 12 yuan in the end. It’s not that I’m being picky about a few yuanYes 🥺, but he is simply bullying tourists 😠, I was already thinking about the battle when I was in the car, but I just typed 12328.

**Q: Airline selection? **
A: Taking economy class tickets as an example, Spring Airlines has no luggage allowance, while Juneyao Airlines has 20KG. Spring Airlines does not have meals, while Juneyao Airlines does, so if the time is right, I will choose Juneyao Airlines.