Self-driving tours around Sichuan - Sichuan-Tibet Section of National Highway 318
Editor’s note:Self-driving tours have been gaining popularity among Chinese tourists in recent years. One of the popular places for self-driving tours in China is Sichuan, as the province boasts rich tourism resources. China.org.cn has compiled information about some of the best routes for self-driving tours in Sichuan. Here are one of them:
The Sichuan-Tibet Section of National Highway 318
The Sichuan-Tibet Section of the National Highway 318 is China’s first road to link Sichuan in the east and Lhasa in the west. The 5476-kilometer National Highway 318 is praised as the Scenic Drive of China and the 2140-kilometer Sichuan-Tibet section is the most beautiful as well as the most dangerous and difficult part of the drive. Boasting numerous and various spectacular natural landscapes and cultural heritages along its way, the section has attracted many self-driving enthusiasts from all over the world. Before the road was built, different ethnic groups in southwestern China used the famous Ancient Tea-Horse Road for economic and cultural exchanges. The ancient road, winding through the Hengduan Mountains and the towering mountains of the Tibetan Plateau, was the highest and dangerous courier route in the world.
Day 1: Chengdu City-Ya’an City-Moxi Township-Hailuogou
Local girls of Ya'an pick tea leaves
Set out from Chengdu and take the Chengdu-Ya’an Highway for Ya’an. Ya’an is famous for abundant rain falls, the beauty of local girls and the Ya’an fish. Since ancient times, the place has played a strategic role along the Sichuan-Tibet and Yunnan-Tibet roads and was a gateway to the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. Drive along the beautiful Qingyi River towards the towering Mount Erlang, and you will see beautiful views difficult to come by elsewhere along the way. After driving through the Mount Erlang Tunnel, the highest, longest and most dangerously-located tunnel in China, you will come to Dadu River Gorge, which is the deepest and most beautiful gorge with the fastest-moving rapids in western Sichuan.
Ensure you can arrive at the charming Moxi Township in the afternoon, where must-do things are watching the Gongga Glacier and bathing in one of the natural hot springs. The Gongga Glacier, known in the world as a modern glacier in a low altitude, is 14.2 kilometers long. An unmatched ice fall there is ten times larger than the famous Huangguoshu Waterfall. Hot spring ponds of various sizes are surrounded by lush virgin forests. White fog shrouds the mountains, giving you the feeling that you were in a fairyland. When there is a snow fall, it would be an exceptional experience to watch the snowflakes falling while bathing in a steaming hot spring pond.
Day 2: Hailuogou-Luding County-Kangting County-Xinduqiao Township
Mount Gongga
Head toward Kangting by way of Luding. Kangting, the capital of Ganzi prefecture, is made famous by a song called Kangting Ballad. Actually, Kangting was already an important courier station from the inland to Tibet, a distribution center for trade between Han people and Tibetans, as well as an important tea-horse trade town during the Yuan Dynasty.
Visit Mugecuo, the largest of all alpine lakes with an altitude of 2000 meters and above in Sichuan, in northern Kangting. Views of the lake change a lot during a day. In the morning, the lake was as clear and calm as a mirror, reflecting the mountain and their snow-covered peaks near it; in the afternoon, billowing waves making thundering sounds broke the lake’s tranquility; at dusk, the lake glistens with golden lights and the ever-changing scenery never fails to wow a tourist.
