South Sichuan Hidden Gems

In the morning, your guide and driver from Sichuan Adventure will meet you at your hotel and head for Leshan from Chengdu through the expressway, and you’ll see the beautiful countryside of south Sichuan along the way.

When arriving at Leshan, you’ll take a boat to see the famous Leshan Giant Buddha. On the boat, you will be able to see the magnificent 71-meter-tall big statue. Leshan is situated at the confluence of three rivers and there used to frequent floods here in summer. In the 8th century, the locals spent 90 years (AD 713-803) in total finishing this huge project, hoping that the Buddha would protect them from the floods. With a history of 0ver 1,200 years, It’s the world’s largest Buddha statue in sitting position.

Have lunch at Leshan and try some local specialities.

After lunch, drive to Qianwei County of Leshan to see the beautiful countryside and the authentic local life at the Luocheng Old Town. After arriving take a slow walk in the town, and if you like, you may also sit down at a teahouse and enjoy a cup of tea, just as the locals do. This town has not been commercialized, and you will see the old houses and streets where the local people have their shops, teahouses and restaurants.

Meals provided: lunch + dinner
Overnight: Leshan

After breakfast, drive to the Jiayang Steam Train attraction, then you will take the old-fashioned Jiayang Steam Train to enjoy the beautiful countryside, the train is still used by the locals when they want to go to other villages. There used to be coal mines in this area, and now there is a museum about the history of coal mines. You can still see the old-style houses built with the help of the Soviet Union in the 1950s.

In the afternoon, drive to South Sichuan Bamboo Forest Park (Shunan Bamboo Forest) in Yibin. If there’s enough time, you may visit the Chinese Wine Museum in Yibin to learn more about this famous Baijiu (Chinese Wine) city in China.

Meals provided: lunch + dinner
Overnight: Yibin

Today we will spend the whole day visit South Sichuan Bamboo Forest, which is located in Jiang’an and Changning counties of Yibin city in southern Sichuan Province. Characterized by the bamboo scenery, it is literally a world of different types of bamboo trees that combines beautiful landscapes with Chinese cultural heritage. Apart from the far-reaching green bamboo forests, deep and quiet valleys, babbling brooks, pretty waterfalls and emerald lakes are all the inevitable components of the natural beauty of the South Sichuan Bamboo Forest.

The bamboo banquet that is made of bamboo shoots or other parts of bamboo, you may try this for lunch or dinner in the scenic area.

Meals provided: breakfast, lunch and dinner
Overnight: Changning

In the morning after breakfast, we will drive to the city of Zigong. You’ll first visit China’s Jurassic Park, the renowned Zigong Dinosaur Museum. The museum sits on top of a large concentration of a diverse dinosaur assemblage. It claims the largest number of dinosaur fossils in the world. The museum exhibits fossils of dinosaurs that have been excavated. This is China’s first museum located at the actual burial site of dinosaurs. You will absolutely learn a lot about the dinosaurs at this great museum.

After the dinosaur museum, visit Zigong’s Salt History Museum and Shenhai Well. You will learn a lot about the history of the salt production in China as well as the beautiful traditional Chinese architecture at these two museums. After your visit to the museums, you may take a walk around and maybe enjoy a cup of tea at the unusual riverside Wangye Temple Teahouse, which is considered by many the best of Sichuan.

Drive back to Chengdu after finishing your visit, your guide and driver will send you back to your hotel.

Distance: 353 kilometers / 219 miles
Meals provided: breakfast, lunch