8 Days Classic Sichuan & Beautiful Guilin Landscape Tour

Day 1 Chengdu Arrival

Airport / railway station pick up

Welcome to Chengdu, the hometown of the Giant Panda. Your local guide will meet you at the airport/train station and then escort you to your hotel in a private vehicle. The rest of today is yours to relax in the panda city on your own.

Arrival Ideas: Chengdu is only about 2~3 hours flying from the majority of big cities in China, such as Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shanghai, etc. You can also get to Chengdu by high speed trains from Xian (4hrs), Chongqing (1hrs), Guilin (6hrs), Kunming (6hrs), etc.

Recommended Optional Evening Activities: enjoy a delicious dinner of Sichuan cuisine (or hotpot) at a local restaurant.

• The Typical Sichuan Cuisine - Chengdu Hotpot
• Our tour guide picked up guests at Chengdu East Railway Station

Day 2 Chengdu (B, L)

Chengdu Panda Base, People's Park, Wuhou Temple, Jinli Old Street

This morning you will make a stirring visit to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding which is not only the most important panda scientific research center, but also dwelling home to more than 100 Giant Pandas. Walk at leisure through the bamboo framed paths, and closely observe giant pandas of different ages eating bamboos, playing with each other, tumbling, climbing trees, etc. Don't miss the chance to visit the most adorable panda cubs in the panda kindergartens. If you are lucky, you may be able to see the precious panda babies in the nursery rooms. There is also a very informative Panda Museum where you can learn more scientific facts about Giant Pandas.

Chengdu is famous throughout China for its relaxing and leisurely pace and lifestyle, which will be demonstrated by a visit to the City’s People's Park. Sit down, order a pot of Chinese tea, have a casual chat with your friends and watch locals indulging themselves in different kinds of folk entertainment - napping, playing Mahjong, disco dancing, and giving neck massages!

Later, you will be taken to Wuhou Temple. Surrounded by old cypresses and classical red walls, the temple creates an atmosphere of nostalgia. When stepping into the temple, you get the chance to immerse yourself into a sea of ancient profound culture and history of the legendary Three Kingdoms. Next will be an impressive visit to the famous Jinli Old Street. Time will steal away as you walk quietly on the lively streets full of delicious local snacks, delicate artifacts, interesting folk shows, and other activities.

Recommended Optional Evening Activities: watch a wonderful performance of Sichuan Opera which includes folk opera, face changing, fire spitting, rolling lights, and other delightful entertainment (usually performs during 20:00~21:30).

• Try Chengdu local snacks at Jinli Old Street
• Our dear clients was experiencing Chengdu local living style in the People's Park
• Lovely Pandas in Chengdu Panda Base - Photographed by Our Guest Chona

Day 3 Chengdu - Mount Emei (B, L)

Mount Emei (Leidongping, Golden Summit, Huazang Temple)

In the morning, you will be picked up at your hotel, then set out for the driving around 2 hours to Mount Emei. As one of the few World Heritage Sites of both cultural and natural heritages, Mount Emei is an enchanted combination of lush forest and cultural relics. It is one of the Four Great Buddhist Mountains in China, also the home to 5000 kinds of plants (more than the total plants of Europe) and over 2300 kinds of wild animals.

You will first take your private car to the tourist center, then shift on to an Eco-Bus which will take you up to the mountain top area in 1.5~2 hours. Once you reaching at Leidongping (2400m), keep on walking about 30mins along stone steps to the cable car station, along which you will have chance to see the wild monkeys. Take a cable car (about 5mins) up to the Golden Summit (3077m) which is the biggest highlight and very essence of Mount Emei. Once you get to the Golden Summit, the first view appearing in front of you is a towering multi-faced golden statue (48m) of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Next to the golden statue sits the bronze Huangzang Temple which is the first temple established on Mount Emei whose history can be traced back to 1st century CE. You can stroll around the Golden Summit to explore Buddhist architecture and tradition, and enjoy panoramic view of Mount Emei and surrounding. On clear days, you can even see the snow-clad of Mount Gongga (7556m), Asia’s largest table mountain - Wawu Mountain and winding rivers flowing through Emeishan city. If weather permits, you will have luck to enjoy its magnificent wonder of Cloud Sea. Sightsee around 1.5 hours on the Golden Summit area, then descend by cable car to Leidoping and take Eco-Bus again back to the tourist center. Your private car is ready to transfer you to check in your hotel at the foot of Mount Emei.

Read this if you are a hiking lover:

Above itinerary is classic visit route which is suitable for different ages of tourists. If you want more hiking experience during your trip, please contact your travel consultant to tailor-make the hiking routes according to your time and physical condition. There are routes of 2 hours (Qingyin Pavilion to Wannian Temple), 4 hours (Qingyin Pavilion to Wannian Temple + Leidongping to Golden Summit), one day (Wannian Temple to Leidongping) and 2 days (Qingyin Pavilion to Golden Summit).

• Golden Summit of Mount Emei
• Stunning scenery of Cloud Sea on Golden Summit

Day 4 Mount Emei - Leshan Giant Buddha (B, L)

Baoguo Temple, Leshan Giant Buddha

In this morning, you will first pay a visit to Baoguo Temple, the biggest temple of Mount Emei at the mountain foot. It has several serene gardens with rare plants, a library of sutras and a huge porcelain Buddha. Another famous historical relic in the temple is the 25-ton bronze Bell, reputedly as the second largest bell in China. While traveling deeper into the temple, you will enjoy different views of Mount Emei.

After the visiting, drive to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site - Leshan Giant Buddha when it is less-crowded. Carved during AD713~803 on a mountain rock cliff by the river, with its head reaching to the mountain top and its feet standing next to the river, Leshan Giant Buddha is the largest and tallest stone-carved statue of Buddha in the world. The total height is 71 meters; while the head is 14.7meters high and 10 meters wide, ear is 7meters high, 28 meters between knees and insteps. Its insteps can hold over a hundred people. On the right cliff of the Giant Buddha, there is a plank road built along with the Giant Buddha. You may be wondering why such a giant Buddha was built? It is said to have been built to calm the turbulent waters that plagued passing boats and killed many people each year in ancient time. From the top to foot, the plank road has nine turns, thus it’s called Nine Bends Plank Road. The widest part of the road is 1.45m and the narrowest part is only 0.6m, and there are 217 stone steps in total. You will walk down the plank road to the feet of the Giant Buddha for a closer view.

Stay overnight in Leshan City.

• Leshan Giant Buddha in summer
• Baoguo Temple at the foot of Mount Emei

Day 5 High Speed Train from Leshan to Guilin & Drive to Longji Rice Terrace (B)

High Speed Train to Guilin and transfer 2 hours to Longji Rice Terrace

In this morning, your guide and driver will pick you up at the hotel and escort you to Leshan Railway Station for a high speed train to Guilin (about 5 hours). Welcome to Guilin, the most scenic city in China. Upon your arrival at the railway station, our local guide and driver will pick up you and then transfer you to Ping'an Village at Longji Rice Terrace. Check in your hotel. The rest of today is free for you to explore beautiful surroundings.

Important to Know: 1) The driving from Guilin West to Ping'an is about 1.5-2 hours. 2) Walking: When arriving at Ping’an Village, you can only be dropped at Ping’an Village Tourist Center parking lot that you need to walk about 900 steps to your hotel. Comfortable shoes are highly recommended; 3) Luggage carrying: For the aged or travelers who are lack of physical strength, you’d better hire a local porter to help carry your heavy luggage to the hotel (pay extra expense on your own).

• Longji Rice Terraces View, Taken by Santos from Canada in 2018

Day 6 Longji Rice Terrace - Guilin (B, L)

Sunrise, Longji Rice Terrace

When you wake up in the fresh air of peaceful morning, you may forget where you are. Try to watch the magnificent sunrise from a great location on the terraces if you don't mind getting up very early. After breakfast, your guide will take you to explore the breathtaking views of Longji Rice Terrace leisurely. The rice terrace is layer upon layer, like the changing ladder created by nature leading to the blue sky, forming a majestic painting between heaven and earth. From Ping’an, you can hike on the cobbled paths built among terraces to catch the best landscape. Climb up to the great lookouts at Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers from which you can get superlative views of terraces and villages.

Hike half day around, then back to Ping’an. Then transfer back to Guilin City. Check in your hotel. The rest time is free on your own to have fun in Guilin - strolling, hunting food...

Good to Know: 1) Best time to visit: Longji Rice Terrace can be visited all year round. Go mid-April to late June for mirror-like irrigated terrace and rice transplanting scene; go July to mid-September for green terraces; go late September to early-November for golden and harvest scene; or go late December to early February for silvery terraces; 2) The Viewing Platform of Seven Stars with Moon is under a reconstruction which means it is closed for travelers at present. The hiking route between Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers would do some adjustment during the construction. You won’t miss the amazing rice terraces scenery when visiting.

• Longji Rice Terrices, Taken by Our Customer Chona from Philippines in late September 2018
• Longji Rice Terraces (Pingan) in late August 2019, Taken by Our Customer Gerhard from Germany

Day 7 Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo & Yangshuo Countryside (B, L)

Li River Cruise, Yangshuo Yulong River, West Street

As the declaration in Chinese textbook "Guilin's landscape is the best under heaven", today you will explore this best landscape starting with a relaxing sightseeing cruise along the Li River from Mopanshan Pier to Yangshuo Town. Along the 84-kilometer cruise, dazzling scenery overwhelms your eyes like a vast endless Chinese painting of winding river, green limestone karst mountains, fascinating countryside views, amazing scene of A Painting of Nine Horses, and notable view printed on the back of the 20 RMB note. (Please note: Lunch is served by the cruise with simple local Chinese cuisine. And you can take some snacks when getting on board.)

After about 4 hours's cruise, disembark in Yangshuo Town, and check into your hotel.

After a short break, start your impressive exploration of the best charming sightseeing and ideal countryside ease at Yulong River. Let all the refreshing scenes please your eyes and souls to the utmost. Just enjoy every moment with the Karst hills dotted around, chatting stream, rippling mountain reflection, swaying floras, patches of vivid crops, comfortable breeze... There are diverse kinds of ways for your enjoyment of the fun and beauty, including biking, hiking, bamboo rafting and driving. You can easily choose and combine your ideal way(s) and part of Yulong River. (Please tell your likes to your travel consultants before booking the tour, as the final prices will differ by activities you choose).

Biking (some physically demanding & sightseeing by the river) - Ride to enjoy the river view and the real fields (route: Yangshuo - Jima - Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge - West Street; for 1.5-2 hours).

Bamboo Rafting (relaxing and interesting & sightseeing on the river) - have fun with the classic bamboo rafting (Route A: Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 40-50 minutes; Route B: Jima Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 1.5 hours) to see the more serene view like pieces of traditional Chinese landscape ink paintings.

Driving (most leisurable and comfortable & sightseeing on the road) - drive and travel from Jima to Gongnong Bridge to appreciate the lovely countryside view (about 0.5 hour). You can get off and on anywhere on the middle way to explore more about your interested place.

After that, walk leisurely on the ancient West Street to witness how the western culture and Chinese culture perfectly and peacefully coexist here. Whether you want to enjoy a cup of drink in bar, taste some local food, or just experience the relaxing atmosphere, you get it here.

Note: according to the regulations of Yulong River Tourism, children less than 1 meter high and elders over 70 years old are not allowed to take the bamboo rafting.

Optional evening activity:

Watch the splendid evening performance of Impression Liu Sanjie with the Li River itself as the stage, which was directed by famous director - Zhang Yimou (usually performs for an hour between around 19:45 and 22:20).

• Guilin Li River Scenery on 20 RMB Chinese Note, Taken by Claire from UK in October 2021
• Skip's Group from USA Enjoyed Yangshuo Ten-mile Gallery Panorama from Moon Hill in 2018
• Chusi's Family Visited Moon Hill at Yangshuo Ten-mile Gallery in June, 2018
• Yangshuo West Street at Night, Photo by China Discovery in October 2018

Day 8 Yangshuo & Guilin Departure (B, L)

Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave

After breakfast, transfer back to Guilin in a comfortable vehicle (1.5~2hrs). Then make a visit to the symbol of Guilin landscape - Elephant Trunk Hill. A giant rock hill vividly shapes like an elephant which is drinking water. Besides, there are many historical sites here for you to explore, such as stone carving, Buddhist temple, relic exhibition, etc. Then, drive about 7 kilometers to next attraction - Reed Flute Cave, a majestic underground palace with sparkling different colors. The magical Mother Nature condenses millions years of natural efforts to form the incredible stalactite, stalagmite, stone shield and stone waterfall of different sizes and shapes.

Lastly, your tour guide will take you to catch your flight / train to your next destination. Tour ends!

• Chusi's Family from USA Visited Elephant Trunk Hill in June, 2018
• Gerhard from Germany visited Reed Flute Cave in August, 2019