Huanglong national park / Huanglong national park / Jiuzhaighou national park
AMDO 4: LANZHOU TO CHENGDU INCLUDING JIUZHAIGOU AND HUANGLONG NATIONAL PARKS / 10 DAYS |
Huanglong national park /
Huanglong national park / Jiuzhaighou national park
| Day | Daily schedule | Overnight in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transfer from Lanzhou to Xiahe | Xiahe |
| 2 | Visit the Labrang monastery | Xiahe |
| 3 | Visit the Sangke grasslands | Xiahe |
| 4 | Continue to Langmusi via Hezuo | Langmusi |
| 5 | Visit Daceng Lhamo lamasery, go hiking in gorge | Langmusi |
| 6 | From Langmusi to Jiuzhaigou National Park | Jiuzhaigou |
| 7 | Explore Jiuzhaigou | Jiuzhaigou |
| 8 | To Songpan, afternoon horse riding | Songpan |
| 9 | Day trip to Huanglong National Park | Songpan |
| 10 | From Songpan to Chengdu |
nomad boys on horse / Langmusi monks / procession at Tibetan new year in Labrang
Included |
* English speaking guide for days 2,3, 4,5,6,7, 8, 9 * car for above itinerary * 3 nights hotel in Xiahe * 2 nights hotel in Langmusi * 2 nights hotel in Jiuzhaigou * 2 nights hotel in Songpan * horse riding in Songpan |
|---|---|
Excluded |
* entrance fees * meals |
Price |
Price for 2 persons: RMB 9700 p.p. / Price for 4 persons: RMB 6850 p.p. Special group rates are available on request. (Price will be higher during the Chinese holidays: 1-7 May and 1-7 October.) Calculate exchange rate |
Best travel time |
May-October |
Remarks |
Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in Lanzhou and transfer to Xiahe. You will be picked up from Lanzhou airport or train station and transferred to Xiahe. This takes about 5 hours, including a stop in Linxia for bite to eat. Around Lanzhou, we can see many houses made of earth and the mountains are dry and brown. After three hours driving, we come into the beautiful green mountains of Xiahe.
Day 2: Today you will visit the Labrang Monastery. This is the largest Tibetan monastery outside of Tibet province. It houses more than 2000 monks from the Yellow Hat tradition and there are 6 schools of Buddhist teachings. In the morning you will join in with the monastery tour. A monk from the monastery guides this tour in English. In the afternoon, our guide will take you to see the printing temple where the sutras are still printed by using wooden blocks. We also climb up the Golden Stupa for a bird's eye view of the whole complex.
Day 3 : Today you will explore the grasslands around Xiahe where nomad families live in tents. When invited in their homes you simply can't refuse the infamous Tibetan yak milk tea and barley "tsampa". The grasslands are also a beautiful area for hiking. In summertime the flowers are like a carpet on the meadows.
Day 4 :First we will visit Hezuo to admire the nine floor Milarepa temple. Inside are beautifully hand painted decorations of Tibetan Buddhist gods and deities. We will arrive in Langmusi at the end of the afternoon.
Day 5: In Langmusi the ancient Tibetan custom of sky burials is still practiced. Sky burials are now limited only to a very small area in Tibet and are a rare sight nowadays. The town of Langmusi is situated partly in Gansu province, and partly in Sichuan province, divided only by a small river. Therefore this small town has two monasteries, one in each province. We will first visit the sky burial site and from there go to the Daceng Lhamo monastery on the Gansu side of town. In the afternoon we go hiking through a beautiful gorge where you can see many eagles and vultures soaring above your head.
Day 6: Drive from Langmusi to Jiuzhaigou. You will drive through the wonderful Zoige High Altitude grasslands. On the way you will stop for some short hiking trips.
Day 7: Whole day to explore Jiuzhaigou National Park.
Day 8: Drive from Jiuzhaigou to Songpan in the morning. The rest of the day will be spent on horse back, exploring the beautiful mountains around Songpan.
Day 9: Make a day trip from Songpan to Huanglong National Park, which is famous for its colored pools and forests. Huanglong is only 80 km from Songpan.
Day 10: Drive from Songpan to Chengdu airport or train station.