Must-see attractions in Sichuan

  • Dzongsar Monastery

    Sichuan

    One of the oldest, most important and certainly most visibly impressive monastery complexes in Kham, the remote Dzongsar Monastery sits on a sharp ridge…

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    Yading Nature Reserve

    Sichuan

    The magnificent Yading Nature Reserve, 140km south of Daocheng, centres around three sacred snowcapped mountains, a holy trinity encircled by forested…

  • Le Shan Grand Buddha

    Sichuan

    Le Shan’s serene, 1200-year-old Grand Buddha sits in repose, carved from a cliff face overlooking the confluence of three busy rivers: the Dadu, Min and…

  • Pigments used for painting

    Bakong Scripture Printing Press

    Sichuan

    This fascinating 1729 printing press houses an ongoing printing operation that still uses traditional woodblock printing methods and maintains more than…

  • Pandas at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

    Giant Panda Breeding Research Base

    Chengdu

    One of Chengdu’s most popular attractions, this panda park 18km north of the city centre is the easiest way to glimpse Sichuan’s most famous residents…

  • Ser Gyergo Nunnery

    Sichuan

    Known locally as ani gompa (Tibetan for ‘nunnery’), Hépíng Fǎhùi is home to around 500 nuns and more than 100 monks. Lama Tsemper was a revered hermit who…

  • Former Residence of the 7th Dalai Lama

    Sichuan

    Kelzang Gyatso (1708–57), the seventh Dalai Lama, was born in a cold, dark, cave-like room in the basement of this house during a period of intense…

  • Ya'an Bifengxia Panda Base

    Sichuan

    Ya'an Bifengxia Panda Base was established in prime forest in Ya'an in 2003 for research purposes rather than tourism, and its mission expanded in 2008…

  • Huanglong National Park

    Sichuan

    Unaffected by the earthquakes that have so impacted nearby Jiuzhhaigou National Park, the lesser known but almost equally gorgeous Huanglong National Park…

  • Dinosaur Museum

    Sichuan

    Relive your childhood palaeontology fantasies at this spectacular dinosaur museum. It was the first museum of its kind in China and is arguably one of the…

  • Haizi Valley

    Sichuan

    Considered by many the most beautiful of the three valleys in the Four Sisters Mountain area, Haizi Valley's eponymous lakes and majestic views of the…

  • Gongga Monastery

    Yulongsi Valley & Mt Gongga Shan

    Set at an altitude of 3941m and cut off from the outside world by winter snows for months on end, the Gongga Monastery (also known as the Minya Konka…

  • Degongbu Temple

    Sichuan

    Surrounded by the mud-brick buildings belonging to the smaller of Ganzi's two Tibetan quarters, this 13th-century temple's two dimly lit halls (one…

  • Wenshu Monastery

    Chengdu

    This Tang dynasty monastery is dedicated to Wenshu (Manjushri), the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, and is Chengdu’s largest and best-preserved Buddhist temple…

  • Chengdu Museum

    Chengdu

    Spanning ancient Shu and pre-Qin dynasties to the Revolutionary era and modern Chengdu, this spectacular five-storey museum (completed in 2016) is packed…

  • Wolong Giant Panda Garden

    Sichuan

    China's leading panda conservation centre and, almost certainly, the best place to see pandas in China, the Wolong Giant Panda Garden is home to 74…

  • Zhonglu

    Sichuan

    Comparatively remote Zhonglu, 13km from Danba, is less a village and more a collection of grand, traditional stone houses spread across a lush, green…

  • Shunan Zhuhai National Park

    Sichuan

    Swathes of swaying bamboo, well-marked walking trails and a handful of charming lakes and waterfalls make south Sichuan’s Bamboo Sea a worthwhile detour…

  • Jiuzhai Valley, Five Flower Lake

    Jiuzhaigou National Park

    Sichuan

    The raw mountain beauty and sparkling lakes of Jiuzhaigou National Park was, for many, a highlight of China. However, in August 2017 a 7.0-magnitude…

  • Yarchen Gar Buddhist Institute

    Sichuan

    On a quiet bend of the Dzin-Chu River in the remote grasslands of Garzi Prefecture, this massive Nyingma (Red Hat) community of nuns and monks living in…

  • Qingcheng Shan

    Sichuan

    Covered in lush, dripping forests, the sacred mountain of Qingcheng Shan has been a Taoist spiritual centre for more than 2000 years. Its beautiful trails…

  • Pelyul Gompa

    Sichuan

    A remote settlement in the mountains of the former Tibetan province of Kham, here you can get a semblance of the spectacle of monastic life through a…

  • Yilhun Lha-tso

    Sichuan

    It is said King Gesar's beloved concubine Zhumu was so taken by these stunning turquoise-blue waters that her heart fell in. This now-holy glacial lake,…

  • Pingle Old Town

    Sichuan

    A popular subject of paintings for Chinese art students, this ancient river village began as a way-station on the southern Silk Road more than 2000 years…

  • CHENGDU, CHINA - September 11: Artifact displayed in Jinsha site museum on September 11, 2010 in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China. (Photo by Lucas Schifres/Getty Images)

    Jinsha Site Museum

    Chengdu

    In 2001 archaeologists made a historic discovery in Chengdu’s western suburbs: they unearthed a major site containing ruins of the 3000-year-old Shu…

  • Sanxingdui Museum

    Sichuan

    The Sanxingdui Museum, 40km north of Chengdu in Guanghan (广汉), exhibits relics of the Shu kingdom, a cradle of Chinese civilisation dating from 1200 BC to…

  • Lhagang Monastery

    Sichuan

    The story goes that when Princess Wencheng, the Chinese bride-to-be of Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, was on her way to Lhasa in 640, a precious statue of…

  • Lǐzhuāng Gǔzhèn

    Sichuan

    The old town covers just a couple of square kilometres, with all the main sights between the bus stop and the river. Entry to the main temples and…

  • Darjay Gompa

    Sichuan

    It's one of the most venerated monasteries in the prefecture; the reasoning behind the name 'Big Golden Temple' becomes apparent as soon as it appears on…

  • Garze Gompa

    Sichuan

    North of the town’s old Tibetan quarter is Ganzi's largest monastery, dating back more than 500 years and glimmering with gold (some of it even real!)…

  • Shenhai Salt Well

    Sichuan

    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…

  • Paoma Shan

    Sichuan

    Paoma Shān is the famed mountain of the Kāngdìng Qíng Gē ('Kangding Love Song'), one of China's most enduring folk songs, and will appeal the most to…

  • Shuangqiao Valley

    Sichuan

    The longest of the three main valleys in the Four Sisters Mountain area is also the most accessible to tourists, with a wooden boardwalk that runs for…

  • Wuhou Temple

    Chengdu

    Located adjacent to Nanjiao Park and surrounded by mossy cypresses, this temple (rebuilt in 1672) honours several figures from the Three Kingdoms period,…

  • Bsampeling Monastery

    Sichuan

    Originally established in 1669, but much rebuilt, this collection of monastery buildings at the top end of town commands fine views of the surrounding…

  • Jiǔlián Shān

    Sichuan

    The best way of acclimatising and getting fit for adventures further west is to climb the beautiful Mt Jiulian. The trail rises steeply through forest but…

  • Sichuan Museum

    Chengdu

    Aficionados of Chinese history will enjoy a stop here for a look at Sichuan's past through Shu-era calligraphy and painting, bronze works and ceramics,…

  • Zhang Fei Temple

    Sichuan

    This temple is the tomb of local boy Zhang Fei, a respected general during the kingdom of Shu and hero of the Three Kingdoms epics, who administered the…

  • Jiaju Zangzhai

    Sichuan

    Of all the pretty villages in the hills around here, Danba tourism’s pride and joy is Jiaju, 12km northwest of town and perched at the top of a…

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