Note: if you’re heading to Éméi Shān, it’s better to use Xiàobà Bus Station, as buses from there go all the way to Bàoguó (¥11, 45 minutes, every 30 minutes from 7am to 5pm).
Other services from Xiàobà Bus Station include:
AChéngdū ¥45, two hours, every 30 minutes from 7am to 7pm
AChóngqìng ¥129, six hours, 10.40am
AÉméi Town ¥8, 30 minutes, every 30 minutes from 7.30am to 6pm
AYǎ’ān ¥54, 2½ hours (9.50am, 2pm, 4.10pm)
AZìgòng ¥42, three hours, hourly from 8.30am to 5.10pm
Train
High-speed trains depart Lèshān for Chéngdū's South and East Train Stations (¥54, 1¼ hours, 12 daily, 7.30am to 9.23pm) and Éméi Shān (¥11, 15 minutes, five daily, 8.38am to 9.36pm).
8Getting Around
Local buses cost ¥1. Some handy routes:
ABus 1 Xiàobà Bus Sstation–Jiāzhōu Hotel–town centre–Liányùn bus station
ABus 6 Xiàobà Bus Station–Renmin Nanlu–Public Security Bureau
ABus 8 Xiàobà Bus Station–town centre–Lè Shān dock
ABus 9 Central Bus Station–town centre–Lè Shān dock
ABus 13 Xiàobà Bus Station–town centre–Oriental Buddha Capital–Grand Buddha–Wūyóu Temple
Sightseeing cruises leave regularly from Lè Shān dock (乐山港; Lè Shān Gǎng GOOGLE MAP ), passing by the cliffs for views of Dàfó. The ride is short and otherwise unexciting.
Liǔjiāng 柳江
%028 / Pop 5164
The charming pastoral setting is the main attraction of Liǔjiāng (柳江), a riverside village nestled in central Sìchuān's countryside. The old town (古镇; gǔzhèn), with its narrow alleyways, wooden courtyard buildings and ancient banyan trees, straddles both sides of the Yángcūn River (杨村河; Yángcūn Hé) in a postcard-perfect scene. For now the reconstruction and sales tactics remain more palatable here than in other 'fixed-up' old towns, though the place is becoming popular with domestic tourists. This is a great spot for a picnic lunch or a dip in the river, but a half-day visit can easily turn into a lazy week in town before you know it.
There’s some excellent walking to be done in the surrounding countryside. Look for wooden signboards in the old town with maps in Chinese of local walking trails. One option is the 3.5km uphill hike to Hóujiā Shānzhài (侯家山寨), marked by a wooden archway off the main driving road on the opposite side of the river from where the buses drop off. Once you’ve found that, follow the road up. Near the top is Tiàowàng Wǎwū, a renovated courtyard guesthouse.
Tiàowàng WǎwūGUESTHOUSE$
(眺望瓦屋 %130 8838 1221; 4 Lianghe, 两河4号 r ¥88, meals ¥20-80)
Near the top of Hóujiā Shānzhài is Tiàowàng Wǎwū, a renovated courtyard guesthouse with simple twin rooms and fabulous views, run by the friendly Liu family who've lived here for four generations. They'll pour you their homegrown tea and cook up noodle (面; miàn) or rice (饭; fàn) dishes made from their hillside gardens. A minibus from the old-town bus station is ¥30.
Wàngjiāng KèzhànGUESTHOUSE$$
(望江客栈 %139 9036 0876; 38 Liujiang Jie; 柳江街38号 r ¥150-200)
Creaky wooden floorboards, simple, clean rooms with shared bathrooms, and river views make this central guesthouse a reason to linger in Liǔjiāng for a few nights. There’s a pleasant terrace overlooking the river where you can have tea (from ¥20) or local food (mains ¥10 to ¥50). The riverside entrance is upriver from the plank bridge (板板桥), on the far bank from the bus station.
To reach Liǔjiāng, take a bus from Chéngdū's Xīnnánmén bus station to Hóngyǎ (洪雅; ¥60, 2½ hours, every 45 minutes from 7.40am to 5.40pm), then change for Liǔjiāng (¥10, 45 minutes, every 15 minutes from 8am to 6pm). The last bus from Hóngyǎ to Chéngdū is at 4pm. There are also regular buses from Hóngyǎ to Éméi Shān, Lè Shān and Yǎ’ān, but don't expect much after mid-afternoon.
Yǎ'ān 雅安
%0835 / Pop 1.53 million
Chinese travellers head to Yǎ'ān (雅安) as a hub for activities like picking tea leaves on the hills of Méngshān (蒙山) or watching sunrise from above the clouds at Bull's Back Mountain (牛背山; Niúbèishān), but for foreigners the primary draw is the Bìfēngxiá Panda Base. It’s a treat to glimpse any one of the 1600 surviving pandas in the world, but with bustling Chéngdū 150km east, you can get a sense of their natural habitat here. Cubs in the 'panda kindergarten' climb high into the trees in their reasonably pleasant enclosures, while humans can hike along a forested river gorge with waterfalls and stunning scenery surrounding the main attraction.
1Sights
Yǎ'ān Bìfēngxiá Panda BaseWILDLIFE RESERVE
(雅安碧峰峡大熊猫基地; Bìfēngxiá Dàxióngmāo Jīdì %0835 231 8145; www.chinapanda.org.cn; ¥118, shuttle ¥15; h8.30-11.30am & 1.30-4.30pm, kindergarten feeding 3.20pm)
Yǎ'ān Bìfēngxiá Panda Base was established in prime forest in Yǎ'ān in 2003 for research purposes rather than tourism, and its mission expanded in 2008 following the earthquake that severely damaged its sister reserve at Wòlóng. Bìfēngxiá is now home to 80 pandas, some of which may eventually be returned to the wild.
The panda centre is 3km away from the ticket office in the main car park where the minibus drops passengers. Pick up a map and store bags for free at the tourist information office. Turn left out of the ticket office then take the free lift (乘电梯; chéngyúntī; 8am to 7.30pm) down 50 storeys to the foot of the gorge for a 7.5km nature walk to the panda centre entrance. It takes about two hours to reach the centre via the concrete paths passing tall waterfalls, imaginatively named mountains, and a small collection of hanging coffins (悬棺; xuánguān) en route.
Skip the 'wildlife park' (read: zoo) near the tourist centre.
4Sleeping
Qiáotóu NóngjiālèGUESTHOUSE$
(桥头农家乐 %138 8243 7340; 200m uphill from Panda Base bus drop-off; 碧峰峡小西天前行200米 r ¥80)
This basic but friendly guesthouse inside the park is a good bet for those who would like to linger in the area. It's about 10 minutes up a small path from the entrance to the panda centre at the end of the gorge hike, or the same uphill by road from the shuttle stop.
8Getting There & Away
Buses from Chéngdū's Xīnnánmén station (¥114) terminate at Yǎ’ān’s Xīmén bus station (西门车站; Xīmén chēzhàn), but for Bìfēngxiá get off before this at the tourist bus station (旅游车站; lǚyoú chēzhàn) where minibuses (¥5, 45 minutes) wait to take you to the Panda Base. The last bus back to Chéngdū from the tourist bus station leaves at 6.30pm, or it's also possible to continue on to Qiónglái (邛崃; ¥26, one hour) for transfers to the historic town of Pínglè (平乐古镇; Pínglè Gǔzhèn ).
From Yǎ’ān's Xīmén bus station, you can head on to various other destinations:
AÉméi town ¥50, 2½ hours, four daily (8.30am, 10am, 12.10pm, 2pm)
AKāngdìng ¥100, 4½ hours, three daily (8am, 10am, 1pm)
ALè Shān ¥55, 2½ hours, seven daily from 8.30am to 6pm
A pedicab between Yǎ’ān’s two bus stations costs ¥6. At the tourist bus station, the left-luggage office (9.30am to 6.30pm) holds bags for ¥1 per hour.
Southern Sìchuān
Not often on the radar of foreign tourists, steamy southern Sìchuān is for those who enjoy digging into history and exploring the quiet side of nature. There are dinosaur fossils, ancient cliff-face hanging coffins, lush bamboo forests and ancient riverside villages to explore. It’s also home to some stellar teahouses.
Zìgòng 自贡
%0813 / Pop 1.26 million
This intriguing riverside city has been an important centre of Chinese salt production for almost 2000 years. Remnants of that industry make up part of an unconventional list of sights that includes the world’s deepest traditional salt and China’s first dinosaur museum. Zìgòng (自贡) is also a clear contender for the most atmospheric teahouses
anywhere in Sìchuān, so there’s plenty of opportunity to just put your feet up for a day.
1Sights
Dinosaur MuseumMUSEUM
(恐龙馆; Kǒnglóng Guǎn %0813 580 1235; www.zdm.cn/en; 238 Dashan Pu, Da’an District; 大安区大山铺238号 adult ¥42, with 3D movie ¥77, student/child/elderly ¥22, with 3D movie ¥57; h8.30am-5pm; g35)
Built on top of the Dashanpu excavation site, which has one of the world’s largest concentrations of dinosaur fossils, this specialised dinosaur museum, the first in China, has a fine collection of reassembled skeletons as well as partially excavated fossil pits.
The first publicised finds here were made in 1972. The huge numbers of fossils, mostly dating from the rarely seen early and middle Jurassic periods, baffled archaeologists at first. It is now believed that floods swept them here en masse. Budding palaeontologists will appreciate the Huayangosaurus taibaii, the most primitive and complete stegosaur ever discovered, as well as the incredibly rare skin fossil specimens on display. A kid-friendly movie screens at 10am, 11am, 2.30pm and 3.30pm daily.
Take bus 35 (¥1, 25 minutes) uphill from Róngguāng Business Hotel.
Shēnhǎi Salt WellHISTORIC SITE
(燊海井; Shēnhǎi Jǐng %0813 510 6214; 289 Da’an Jie; 大安街289号 adult ¥22, student/child/elderly ¥11; h8.30am-5.30pm)
This fascinating museum is also a working salt mine. Its 1001m-deep artesian salt well was the world’s deepest well when it was built in 1835 and it remains the deepest salt well ever made using percussion drilling, a technique invented here and later applied throughout the world.
Many pieces of original equipment, including a 20m-high wooden derrick that towers above the tiny, 20cm-wide mouth of the well, are still intact. On the 2nd floor of the salt house, rows of cauldrons bubble away day and night over fires powered by natural gas, the mine's other product, until only fluffy white piles of glistening salt remain.
There are excellent English captions explaining the process, from how bamboo was once used to siphon brine from beneath the earth to how soy milk is added to clarify it. Bags of the salt (from ¥3.50) are sold from the window to the right when you exit.
Take bus 5 or 35 (¥1, six stops) uphill from the Róngguāng Business Hotel. Bus 35 continues to the Dinosaur Museum.
4Sleeping
Róngguāng Business HotelHOTEL$$
(荣光商务酒店; Róngguāng Shāngwù Jiǔdiàn %0813 211 9999; 25 Ziyou Lu; 自由路25号 r incl breakfast ¥98-258; ai)
Large clean rooms, friendly staff, free-to-use computers on the 4th floor, and a free buffet breakfast distinguish this hotel from the others in this prime location. Signage is poor though – look for the Chinese characters written on the door downhill from the Bank of China.
Take bus 1 or 35 from the bus station or bus 34 from the train station to the Shízì Kǒu (十字口) bus stop.
Xióngfēi Holiday HotelHOTEL$$$
(雄飞假日酒店; Xióngfēi Jiàrì Jiǔdiàn %0813 211 8888; 193 Jiefang Lu; 解放路193号 r incl breakfast ¥960; aiW)
This large, upmarket hotel is within close reach of Zìgòng's riverside sights and the Shízì Kǒu (十字口) bus stop. While rack rates are high, discounts of nearly 80% put rooms within range of budget travellers.
5Eating
Zìgòng Walking StreetSTREET FOOD$
(自贡商业步行街; Zìgòng Shāngyè Bùxíngjiē h7am-9pm)
Lined with many shops, the highlights of this street are the small vendors who wheel their fresh noodles, dumplings and other tasty delights here to sell. It's uphill from the river, the first street on the right.
6Drinking & Nightlife
oWángyé TempleTEAHOUSE
(王爷庙; Wángyé Miào 3 Binjiang Lu; 滨江路3号 h8.30am-11pm)
Housed within the ochre walls of a 100-year-old guild hall of boatmen and merchants, this lively teahouse (officially known as 临江茶楼; Línjiāng Chálóu) is one of the most atmospheric in Sìchuān. Tea costs ¥12 to ¥20.
Perched above the Fǔxī River, the teahouse sits on the opposite bank from the still-active Fǎzàng Temple (法藏寺; Fǎzàng Sì). The pair were built to ensure safe passage for boats transporting salt downstream. Everyone in the industry came here to make sacrifices to Wángyé, the protector of boatmen and sailors. Now locals gather here to banter, play cards and admire the river view. From the Shízì Kǒu (十字口) bus stop walk down to the river, turn left and follow the river for about 750m around a small bend.
8Information
Bank of ChinaBANK
(中国银行; Zhōngguó Yínháng Ziyou Lu; 自由路 h9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
Has a 24-hour foreign-card-friendly ATM just across from the Shízì Kǒu (十字口) bus stop. The office is open business hours for currency exchange during the week.
8Getting There & Around
To get to the hotels, walk out of the bus station, turn right and walk 200m to the first bus stop. Then take bus 1 or 35 (¥1) five stops to the Shízì Kǒu (十字口) stop. The hotels are across the road and down the hill. From the train station, which is at the east end of town, take bus 34 (¥1) to Bīnjiāng Lù (滨江路) bus stop. From there, walk back 200m and turn left up Ziyou Lu.
From Shízì Kǒu, bus 35 runs on to the Salt Well (six stops) and Dinosaur Museum (final stop) from 6.30am to 9.30pm. Additionally, bus 7 runs between these two points and the bus station.
Bus
Destinations from the main bus station (客运总站; Kèyùn Zǒngzhàn %0813 820 9777; 817 Dangui Dajie; 丹桂大街817号 ) include:
AChéngdū ¥84, 3½ hours, about every 20 minutes from 6.30am to 7.50pm
AChóngqìng ¥76, four hours, every half hour from 6.20am to 2.20pm
AÉméi Shān ¥58, 3½ hours, four daily (9.10am, 11.50am, 2.10pm, 4pm)
ALè Shān ¥50, three hours, eight daily from 8.30am to 5.30pm
AYíbīn ¥27, one hour, every 30 minutes from 7.10am to 7pm
Train
AChéngdū K ¥41, five hours, seven daily from 12.35am to 10.51am
AKūnmíng K seat/hard sleeper ¥119/207, 17 hours, three daily (2.52pm, 3.40pm, 4.13pm)
AYíbīn K ¥13, 1½ hours, six daily from 5.23am to 4.52pm
Yíbīn 宜宾
%0831 / Pop 4.47 million
Where the Mín and Jīnshā converge to become the mighty Yangzi River, Yíbīn (宜宾) has stood as a town of great strategic military importance throughout history. Today it’s a relatively modern midsized city, making it a convenient travel hub for trips to old town Lǐzhuāng, the Bamboo Sea and Luòbiǎo's hanging coffins.
The city is easily explored on foot. Turn right out of Jīngmào Hotel, and right again to reach the reconstructed Shuǐ Dōng Mén (水东门; East Water Gate), which has a teahouse on top of it (tea from ¥10, open 6am to 10pm). Further down and off to the right is a genuinely old city-wall gateway, plus remnants of the original ancient city wall, leading towards the river confluence and a modern public square where locals dance in the evening. Up to the right from the square are more city-wall remains with Guānyīng Jiē Gŭmínjū (冠英街古民居), a street of courtyard homes dating from the Qing dynasty.
Jīngmào HotelHOTEL$$
(经贸宾馆; Jīngmào Bīnguǎn GOOGLE MAP ; %0831 513 7222; 108 Minzhu Lu; 民主路108号 tw ¥220; aiW)
In the middle of the action, this no-frills hotel is clean and serves its purpose. Discounts of up to 20% make it a bargain in this town.
8Getting There & Away
Bus
Most travellers arrive at Gāokè bus station (高客站; Gāokè zhàn). Departures from here include:
AChángníng ¥15, one hour, frequent services
AChéngdū ¥100, four hours, frequent services from 7.20am to 7pm
AChóngqìng ¥110, four hours, frequent services from 7.10am to 7pm
AGǒngxiàn ¥17, 1½ hours, frequent services
ALè Shān ¥62, four hours, hourly from 8.20am to 5.30pm
AZìgòng ¥28, one hour, frequent services
from 7.30am to 7pm
Head across town to Nánkè bus station (南客站; Nánkè zhàn) for buses to Lǐzhuāng (¥4, 35 minutes, every 15 minutes from 6.15am to 7.30pm), the Bamboo Sea (¥22, 1½ hours, 9.30am) and Luòbiǎo (¥33, three hours, 2.05pm).
Travellers may find the nearby cities of Chángníng and Gǒngxiàn have more direct buses to the Bamboo Sea and Luòbiǎo.
Train
Trains leaving from Yíbīn train station (火车站; huǒchē zhàn) include:
AChéngdū K ¥51, 6½ to 8½ hours, seven daily from 12.30am to 11.36pm
AKūnmíng K seat/hard sleeper ¥105/184, 12½ to 15½ hours, three daily (3.25pm, 5.13pm, 5.48pm)
AZìgòng K ¥13, 1½ hours, eight daily from 12.16am to 11.56pm
8Getting Around
To get to the town centre from Gāokè bus station, take bus 22 (¥1, 15 minutes) into town and get off at the Xùfǔ Shāngchéng (叙府商城) stop on Renmin Lu (人民路). Turn right at the light; the Jīngmào Hotel will be on your left.
Bus 4 (¥1) connects Nánkè bus station with Gāokè bus station (45 minutes) via the Xùfǔ Shāngchéng stop (20 minutes) and train station (40 minutes).
Bus 11 (¥1) links the train station with Gāokè bus station (or it's a 10-minute walk between the two) and passes by the end of Renmin Lu.
Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
%0831 / Pop 3000
Looking like it's straight out of a Chinese film set, south Sìchuān's Bamboo Sea (蜀南竹海; Shǔnán Zhúhǎi) is a world removed from the bustling cities in the centre of the province. Wander through forests of this fast-growing grass, in an atmosphere so quiet that you can actually seem to hear it growing, or float through the foggy sky on either of the two cable cars. While the park is generally more optimised for travellers with vehicles than those on foot, the interconnected trails in the centre of the park, looping around still forest lakes and along temple-crowded cliff sides, make it worth the trip.
Lonely Planet China Page 154