10 Days Jiuzhaigou & Zhangjiajie National Parks In-depth Tour

Nihao! Welcome to Chengdu, the Hometown of Giant Pandas! Your private driver and guide will be ready for you when you arrive in Chengdu. Enjoy a trouble-free transfer to your hotel. The rest of today is yours to relax in panda city on your own.

Arrival Ideas:
Chengdu is well connected by air and high-speed rail. There are two airports - Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport operating many international and domestic airlines. Travelers can go to Chengdu by air from most cities in China, like Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xian, Guilin, Hangzhou, Kunming, Lhasa, Lanzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen, Guiyang, Chongqing… In addition, travelers can take high speed train to Chengdu from Xian (3-4 hours), Chongqing (1.5-2 hours), Guiyang (3.5-4.5 hours), Kunming (6-6.5hours), etc.

Free Time Ideas:
You are welcome to ask your tour guide for some useful tips to spend your free time based on your time and interest.

After breakfast, you are going to fulfill your panda dream with a 17-kilometer drive to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Also called Chengdu Panda Base, accommodated over 100 pandas, it is the base with the largest population of captive giant pandas in the world. You will see giant pandas of different ages there. It’s great fun to watch them playing, eating, climbing, sleeping… If you come in autumn, you will have the chance to see the pink newborn giant panda cubs in the Sunshine Nursery House and the Moonlight Nursery House. Besides giant pandas, you can also meet the cute red pandas walking by your side in the Red Panda Playgrounds. Then follow your guide to discover more about panda’s secrets through the Panda Museum. (Note: Pandas like cool weather, so we advise you to arrive there early as pandas are more active in the morning.)

Later, be transferred to the best preserved Buddhist monastery in Chengdu - Wenshu Monastery to feel the peaceful atmosphere. Pay a visit to Chengdu’s Renmin Park to witness the city’s leisurely lifestyle and how the local people are doing. Order a cup of fragrant green tea while sitting in the time-honored tea-house, chat with your friends and see local playing mahjong and having fun. After that, return to Chengdu downtown for an relaxing stroll at Jinli Old Street. With a history over 1,800 years, it showcases the profound cultures of Ancient Shu Kingdom. Take a nice walk on the traditional stone-paved street full of delicious local snacks, delicate artifacts, interesting folk shows, etc. (Optional Activity: Try some local spicy dishes such as chuanchuan, dandan noodles, or even get out of your comfort zone and try some rabbit's head!)

Recommended Optional Evening Activities:
1)Watch a wonderful Sichuan Opera performance which includes face changing, spitting fire, hand shadows, puppet show, dancing, singing and acrobatics. (usually from 20:00 to 21:30).
2)Appreciate the city’s night view by boat (30mins) along the Jinjiang River, which winds through central Chengdu. ( 18:00~23:30)

In the morning, your tour guide will pick you up at your hotel, then leave the city and drive to Chuanzhusi Town, which is a beautiful small town near Huanglong National Park. The distance between Chengdu and Chuanzhusi is about 350 kilometers, and need about 6~7 hours to drive. Though it’s a long driving day from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou Valley, you will make 3 or 4 stops on the way for visits and break like Songpan Ancient Town and The Ancient Qiang Village, etc. Enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way will relieve you from fatigue and boredom. Highland mountains, Tibetan Villages, Grasslands, Yaks, Sheep, horses…

Songpan Ancient County which has always been called the “Ancient City on the Plateau” is one of the State Protected Historic Sites. Experiencing its rich history and listening to its stories can be great fun! 

The Ancient Qiang Village has the most well-preserved architecture of the Qiang People and retains their pure and primitive cultures, which all display the theme of "the Qiang nationality", so that visitors can deeply understand the customs and culture of the Qiang nationality.

Chuanzhusi is a small town with an elevation of 2980 meters (9777 feet), Chuanzhusi Town or Chuanzhu Si is a peaceful, exotic town with a mix of Tibetan culture, beautiful natural scenery, ancient city, and convenient modern facilities. 

Useful Tips:
Chuanzhusi to Jiuzhaigou National Park: 87km (54 miles)
Chuanzhusi to Huanglong National Park: 39km (24 miles)
Chuanzhusi is an important traffic hub in this area. For travelers to Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong National Parks, Chuanzhusi is the best place to stay. There are different levels of hotels for selections in Chuanzhusi Town.

In the morning, our local guide and driver will transfer you about 30 minutes from Chuanzhusi to visit Huanglong Scenic Area.

Huanglong Scenic Area is a stunning valley with terraces of coloured limestone ponds in blues, greens, oranges, yellows, and white. Huanglong, which means 'Yellow Dragon', got its name for its special geographical features. Seen from a distance, Huanglong's numerous travertine formations look like an enormous, golden dragon arching across the valley, winding its way between the snowy mountain peaks. Huanglong Valley is also renowned for superlative sceneries of snow-topped mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, virgin forests, wild animals, etc. The area, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, has been called a "World Wonder" and “Fairy Land on Earth."

Instead of 6 hours hiking, you are suggested to take a quick cable car directly to the top, and then walk down the valley to enjoy the scenery (usually 3 to 4 hours). Walking down the mountain, you can see the main sites of Honglong Monastery, Five-Colored Ponds, Mirror Ponds, Welcoming Guest Ponds, and a waterfall, as well as some temples and caves.

At the top (3556 m) of the valley lies the best highlight - Five-Color Ponds consisting of almost 700 ponds of different sizes, shapes, and colors. It is well arranged and noted for the most graceful, bright and distinct colors. Cobbles on the bottom shape in prisms of clearly visible chromatism between texture and water plants. Water in the pools overflows, which makes all the colorful pools look like pieces of azure green jade plates at a distance.

After sightseeing, you will leave the park and drive about 2 hours to Jiuzhaigou to check in at your hotel.

Useful Tips:
1)The altitude of Huanglong is higher than that of Jiuzhaigou, ranging from 3,200 to 3,600 meters (10,500 to 11,800 feet), which may cause high altitude sickness for some travelers. You’d better avoid any strenuous exercises. It is recommended to prepare an oxygen bottle or there are also many oxygen stations in the park.
Huanglong cable car is closed in winter.

After breakfast at your hotel, set out for the full-day exploration of Jiuzhaigou National Park. Your guide will accompany you to hop on a sightseeing bus to enter the park to explore the fairyland landscape of Jiuzhaigou.

With some of the most beautiful and inspiring scenery on earth, Jiuzhaigou was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and is even one of China’s most enchanting attractions. Jiuzhaigou (literally “Nine Settlement Valley”) takes its name from the nine Tibetan settlements along its length, which is most renowned for its bluer-than-blue lakes, rushing waterfalls, colorful forests, and deep woodlands backlit by snowy mountain ranges.

The park is a Y-shaped valley with three main sections: the Zechawa, Rize, and Shuzheng valleys. The relaxing and wise visiting way is to take advantage of sightseeing bus. There are sightseeing buses running from the entrance to the three valleys. Travelers hop off the bus, walk along wooden plank roads to enjoy the sights, then hop on another bus to the next attractions. Our tour guide will design a smart route according to your time, energy, and crowd level, and accompany you to explore the essence of Jiuzhaigou at a comfortable pace.

The classic visit route is to take a sightseeing bus to Nuorilang Waterfall. After that, take a bus to Zechawa Valley. From there, have a short hike to Five-Flower Lake and Pearl Beach. And then move to Rize Valley to visit Panda Lake, Five Flowers Lake, Pearl Shoal, Mirror Lake, etc. Lastly, get back to Nuorilang. Have a rest at the joining point of the "Y" - Nuorilang Tourist Center. After a good rest, Afterwards, spend your time visiting Shuzheng Valley. Then, descend along Shuzheng Valley to the park entrance and enjoy the great natural scenery interspersed with traditional Tibetan villages,etc. on the route.

Useful Tips:
1) Get to the park earlier to escape the crowds of tourists groups;
2) Wear comfortable walking shoes or hiking& trekking shoes;
3) Dining options inside park are limited and expensive. Buffet lunch is provided in Nuorilang Restaurant (the only restaurant in the valley). If you bring your own food you can picnic far away from the masses and avoid spending any longer at the busiest points.

After breakfast, your tour guide will pick you up in your hotel in Jiuzhaigou, then drive back to Chengdu. Take a strop to enjoy beautiful plateau lakeview of Diexi Lake on route. After getting back to Chengdu, have a good rest.

Today, you will be escorted to the airport for a flight to Zhangjiajie (about 2 hours).

Welcome to Zhangjiajie, an incredible place where you can see Avatar Hallelujah Mountain in reality! Welcome to Zhangjiajie, an incredible place where you can see Avatar Hallelujah Mountain in reality! Upon your arrival in Zhangjiajie, the local guide and driver will greet you at the exit of the train station, and then escort you to your hotel in Wulingyuan Area. Have a good rest tonight.

(Please note: Since the flights between Chengdu to Zhangjiajie are few and may not be available for every day in low season. If there are no tickets available, we may change your transfer via Changsha, where you can take a high-speed to Zhangjiajie which needs only 2 hour.)

After breakfast, you will have a whole day to explore Wulingyuan Scenic Area, a spectacular island of nature dominated by more than 3,000 narrow quartz sandstone pillars. First, take a sightseeing bus to Bailong Elevator that within 1.5 minutes you can go from the valley bottom up to the pillar peak. It is the fastest and as well as the tallest outdoor elevator in the world. Next, enjoy the hike into a mysterious Pandora World - Yuanjiajie, where is rightly the shooting location of “Hallelujah Mountains” in reality. Catch the chance to shoot South Sky Pillar, the landmark of Yuanjiajie, about 150 meters high vertically rising high from the deep valley, looking like a giant standing so upright under heaven. Go to the Enchanting Platform for a marvel at the unbelievable scenery with hundreds of various peaks like bamboo shoots towering from the grounds. And then enjoy the lush scenery of Natural Bonsai at Backyard Garden.

Next, take the sightseeing bus to the second tourist site - Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve which was named after the leader of the local Tujia ethnic group - Xiang Dakun in early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It is a fairyland in moive Monkey King. Hike to He Long Park which has a fascinating viewing deck to appreciate the incredible and magnificent scene of peculiar stone peaks. Move to Dianjiang Terrace to overlook the West Sea Stone Forest, rugged rock rising out of a misty canyon. The last stop today is the Ten-mile Galley. You will take a small green train to explore the beautiful scenery where you will feel like get through a Chinese ink painting. After the tour, get back to your hotel for a good rest.

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon for the breathtaking Grand Canyon Glass Bridge experience. The Grand Canyon Glass Bridge wants to say “hello” to you and makes you yell “my god” to give a deeper impression of Zhangjiajie. Suspended between two peaks, the glass bridge is 430 meters long and 300 meters high, which is the longest and highest glass bridge in the world. Standing on the transparent glass is like floating in the air and you can have superb panoramic view of the entire Grand Canyon.

After your “tremble” on the glass bridge, move to the Baofeng Lake to do a scenic cruise to bring you back to peace. Surrounded by green trees and stone peaks of various shapes, Baofeng Lake is an idyllic place for relaxation. When leisurely cruising on the boat, you can see the reflection of the marvelous peaks and enjoy the folk songs performed by the local minority people.

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel lobby. Today, you will make a breathtaking visit to Tianmen Mountain, one of the world’s most beautiful mountains. You won’t miss the chance to experience the world’s longest cable car, walk on the glass skywalk, and pay a visit Heaven’s Door and view Avenue toward Heaven with 99 turns.

First, go to take the 30-minute cable car with 7,455 meters in length which means you’ll travel from the city of Zhangjiajie to the top of Tianmen Mountain. From the cable car you will have a perfect view of Heaven’s Door and a shocking look at the wandering Avenue toward Heaven. Next, move to Tianmen Temple where you can enjoy the typical Qing Dynasty styled Buddhist structure with verdant forest surrounding by.

Now, the challenge time is coming. Hold your breath to experience the scary walks on the cliff path hanging on the mountain. Walk on the Glass Skywalk, which is transparent glass 1430 meters above the bottomless valley, giving you a thrilling feeling like walking in the sky. Also, try the 1.6-kilometer-long Cliff-Hanging Walkway, built along the edges of the mountain’s summits. Amazing, isn’t it? After that, go down by escalator from the peak to Tianmen Cave which is also known as “Heaven’s Door”. Tianmen Cave is a natural arch between two peaks of a height of 131.5 meters, rising above the ground and closing to the sky with a lofty and towering posture. It is the highest hole of its sort in the world. (Note: Tianmen Mountain is the famous spot for Wingsuit Flying, you might have a chance to witness this unbelievable sport there.) After the memorable time, take the cable car down the mountain. And then, you will be transferred to Wulingyuan area and have accommodation here.

After the tour, it is time to say goodbye to Zhangjiajie and your guide will escort you to the airport/train station for your flight or high-speed train to your next destination.

Thank you for choosing Asia Odyssey Travel for your China tour, and we are always here working for you and hope to see you again for your next trip to China/Asia.