5-day self-driving trip from Chengdu! Let’s go and encounter the snow-capped mountains, seas and red stone meadows along the way! Departure

Overall itinerary planning

The content of this trip is all concentrated in Ganzi Prefecture. The original plan was to design it all around Gongga Snow Mountain. The itinerary is relatively close to the picture below. If you can go to these places, you can also refer to it. As for the final itinerary, there are If you are interested, please read on.

We pass through many high-altitude areas. The approximate altitude of the main locations is shown in the picture below. Be sure to prevent altitude sickness and always pay attention to sudden changes in the weather on the plateau. Don't ask how sudden the weather on the plateau is, you will see how magical it is later.

The luggage I packed the day before departure can be said to be armed to the teeth, but sometimes Garze Prefecture will be closed, which is impossible to resist.

If you choose to spend an extra day, you can choose to take an early morning flight, but everything is still based on health. If you are driving to Garze by yourself, in fact, Garze not only has popular scenic spots such as Xindu Bridge and Tagong, but also many treasures and niche scenic spots such as Honghaizi and Lenggunato.

Have you ever seen the starry sky from a plane? ? ? I have taken several flights at night and almost never seen the stars. This time I was lucky enough to be able to see many stars with my naked eyes.

The most difficult thing about shooting stars on an airplane is not because of shaky hands or poor camera sensitivity. As long as the ISO is raised, the manual focus is adjusted well, and a wide-angle lens with a large aperture is used, it is very easy to shoot. Try to control the exposure time within one second, and then there is Keep shooting, keep shooting, because there is a high probability that it will be blurred, so you have to use the quantity to try your luck.

The most difficult part is how to eliminate the reflection of the light inside the camera. and there is no hood to avoid the reflection of the glass, so I can barely capture .

It was past 12 o'clock in the evening when we arrived at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport. My eyelids were shaking. After picking up my luggage, I rushed to the hotel without stopping. I just wanted to fall asleep in the hotel.

Climb over Zheduo Mountain

Itinerary: Chengdu – Kangding – Zheduo Mountain – Xinduqiao (330KM-6H)

We got up after sleeping for more than four hours. The driving task on the first day was quite heavy, so we found a noodle restaurant near the hotel to have breakfast.

The chicken noodles were passable, and a bowl of them so early in the morning was both appetizing and filling. After finishing the meal, I bought some vegetables from the stall next door to eat on the road.

Whenever there is a major holiday, I will take a day off to travel at different times, and this time it was the same. Later, it turned out that this time the staggered travel and route selection were very wise. When we went to the scenic spots, we basically missed the main force. As the saying goes, the enemy advances and we move faster. Enemies come and go, we have nothing to do with each other, everyone has fun.

From Chengdu to Xinduqiao, you will pass through the famous Zheduo Mountain Pass, with an altitude of 4298 meters. What you need to pay attention to in this place is the high altitude. You need to be cautious when crossing Zheduo Mountain. The road is covered with ice and snow and is easy to slip. You must wear anti-skid chains. When the weather is bad, you may encounter traffic jams or traffic control. Depending on the situation, take Provincial Highway 434 from Kangding and take a short detour from Tagong Grassland to Xinduqiao. The specific route is as shown below (the route in the picture below is to avoid the mountainous terrain when the weather is bad) Traffic control, the line is passable through personal testing).

There are two options for accommodation today
1. It is recommended that Jiagenba find a B&B that is cheap, has beautiful scenery and is not noisy. It is about 30km away from Xinduqiao (but the hotel cannot be found online).
2. Live in Xinduqiao. The scenery here is beautiful and there are many accommodations. It is known as the "photographer's paradise". However, because there are too many people traveling there, the culture is very poor. There are always children following you asking for money. If you want something, take pictures of anything, it belongs to him, and you have to pay for it, etc. The highlight of the day was the mountainous scenery.
Considering that the driving distance on the first day was long, I chose Xinduqiao, which is relatively close and has better conditions. However, I have to say that the hotels in Xinduqiao are also inhumane during holidays. They usually cost more than 100 Dare to ask for three or four hundred.

Food recommendation:
After getting off the expressway in Kangding on the first day, we had lunch at Dipo Liushi Restaurant. We recommend the roasted chicken with taro. The portion is large enough for private dining. (It should be noted here that the actual quality of Liushi Restaurant recommended by many guides is very average, because we went to eat there a few days later when we were having a tire repair).
For dinner, I recommend the fish restaurant in Xinduqiao Town. I recommend the soup pot beef. The portion is large and the meat is rich. The next day, I went to Yulong West Village and recommended Chengdu Chenshi Restaurant in Shade Town. I recommend cooking. Be sure to buy camping food and drinking water. Yulong There may not be any shops in the west, but you can buy some beef and vegetables in the village!

The picture above shows the Xinduqiao Observation Deck. It was already evening when we arrived at Xinduqiao, so we didn’t go there. If you have friends who will arrive in the afternoon, you can go up there and take a stroll.

The weather was really good, it could be said to be the best day of the trip. When the weather was good, the ultraviolet rays were particularly strong. I didn’t feel hot, but I started to sweat after being exposed to the sun for a while.

The whole journey from Chengdu is on a high speed. There are many high-speed cars but there are no traffic jams. In two hours, you will pass the First Sichuan-Tibet Bridge: Luding Dadu River Bridge. If you feel that the scenery is okay, you can take a rest, get off, walk around, take pictures, drink water, and stretch your muscles. Take it slow.

The bridge is still very spectacular when viewed up close. The red color is probably to echo the Revolutionary Road. I originally wanted to take out a plane to take a picture of the bridge, but the drone was not powerful. I had clearly checked the firmware the night before, and it started again. Update, just update. It was hard to finish the update, but it stopped taking off because the sun was too hot.

I looked at the guy next door who was also using the drone to cool down at the air conditioner. When I asked, I found out that it had overheated and could not fly after the update.

After waiting for a while, the drone cooled down but I was no longer in the mood to take pictures. I continued to set off to have lunch in Kangding City and then climb Zheduo Mountain.

We can already see snow-capped mountains on the road, and we feel excited unconsciously. We are like people who have never seen the world. As long as we pass a corner and see the snow-capped mountains with a wide view, the whole car is wowing.

After looking for a long time in Kangding, I really didn’t know what to eat and it was difficult to choose, so I just found a small stir-fried restaurant. There were many places to complain about, but it was difficult to eat delicious rice. It was either too hard or too rotten. The store is so sloppy and I won’t recommend it here. The portions are not very generous but the prices are not cheap.

The altitude is getting higher and higher, the snow-capped mountains are getting bigger and bigger, the view gradually becomes wider, and Zheduo Mountain is not far away.

After finally turning a corner, the pass is right in front of us. The pass is equipped with facilities such as a parking lot and a canteen, but the parking fee seems to be 10 yuan. I didn't feel that there were many people on the road, so I stayed at the pass.

The altitude of the pass is quite high. Friends who have not adapted to the plateau need to be careful not to get high altitude sickness. In addition, it will be hot when exposed to direct sunlight on the car. However, the wind is strong on the pass, so you need to bring windproof clothes, otherwise you will have to climb very high. Only then did I realize that Leng was in a bit of a dilemma.

As soon as I got off the bus, I saw a base station disguised with Tibetan characteristics! ! The infrastructure maniac is indeed different.

There is some distance from the pass to the highest mountain. The first step has already given many people a scare. Many young ladies are already sitting on the ground panting, and some older brothers are walking up while inhaling oxygen.

The wind at the pass can almost blow people away, but the weather at this time is pretty good, with blue sky and white clouds. Even if the wind is strong, we should cherish the beautiful scenery.

When we reached the top of the first mountain, we had a very wide view. We could see the road we came from. It really had 18 twists and turns. If the weather suddenly cooled down, it would really be difficult to get to the pass. Friends, please be careful before going out. According to the weather forecast, you still need to be prepared for snow chains.

When you reach a mountain top, you look up and see that there are several more mountain tops. All mountain climbers will experience this kind of despair.

The winding mountain road extends from Kangding to the pass. You must pay attention to safety when driving and control the turning radius. Try to drive to the right and not turn too close to the center line.

The snow on the nearby mountain tops has almost melted away, so only the distant peaks will have snow, so there are two styles. The nearby ones look warm because there is no snow, and the distant snow-capped mountains look cold.

There is a small platform at the top of the first mountain for taking pictures and settling down. The snow-capped mountains on the other side are darker and have a sense of solemnity.

These prayer flags are also blown by the wind. There is not much left after being blown away.

I zoomed in to take a picture of the snow-capped mountains in the distance. The clouds on that side just drifted away, illuminating the mountains and suddenly peeling them off from the foreground.

Because the wind was really strong, I looked forward and imagined the scene in my mind. It should be that there was no surprise at all, so I might as well hurry up and rush to Stingcuo to watch the sunset.

Most of the Mani piles on the top of the mountain are engraved with six-character mantras, wisdom eyes, statues of gods and various auspicious patterns.

We stopped for a while and continued our journey.