Western Sichuan Half Travel Notes | Western Sichuan 4-Day Tour

This is a trip that has been planned since the end of 2020. After delaying it for half a year, it was suddenly scheduled for this Qingming Festival, making it a trip that just happened.

 

1

DAY-1

On the first morning of departure, it was raining lightly in Chengdu. An hour later, the group arrived in Ya'an, and then drove onto National Highway 318 and entered Kangding.

At ten o'clock, on the Yakang Expressway, the wet ground changed its appearance and became dry. In the distance, you can see the mist-shrouded mountain tops. The residential houses on both sides of the highway are hidden among the new trees, which is fresh and refined.

It has passed through the 13.5-kilometer-long Erlangshan single-body tunnel and the 29-kilometer-long Shawan multi-body tunnel.

The master woke up all the sleeping passengers, fearing that altitude sickness would become more severe when people wake up from a long sleep, unless you are an old plateau person.

11.30, entering Kangding territory, Gongga Snow Mountain looms into view.

After lunch, we meandered all the way up and arrived at the first real scenic spot, Zheduo Snow Mountain. The snow mountains are all paintings in the window, but this time we can see their true form.

Before I could appreciate the snow-capped mountains up close, my eyesight went dark. My friend dragged me with my weak limbs to buy oxygen and took a breath. It worked wonders!

How can we appreciate the importance of oxygen without going to the plateau? These things we take for granted and are accustomed to, only realize how precious they are when they are suddenly lost.

I walked slowly back to the car and slumped into my seat. The driver who followed us, who had been chatting all the way, now seemed like a frost-beaten eggplant.

Going up the mountain road and climbing over two mountains one after another, everyone seemed to have lost their fighting spirit and were reluctant to get out of the car and take pictures.

Driving through this area, you can enjoy the wild and cold beauty of Tibetan areas while enjoying the discomfort caused by high altitude sickness.

Sichuan is divided into two parts based on altitude. In the east, you can enjoy leisurely walks in spring flowers and in the west, you can see the vast expanse and the melting snow.

It is said that every ten steps to a Suzhou garden will bring you a scene, and every ten steps to the Western Sichuan Plateau will take you a breath of oxygen.

Not far away, herds of yaks were foraging under the fierce sun, leisurely and calmly. They are all old plateau cattle!

Where there are no fences on the roadside, cattle will occasionally block the road, and the master will either wait or go around.

"If you kill one, it's thirty thousand."

"State-mandated?"

“Tibetans have the final say.”

A car that was damaged due to an accident was displayed on a high platform on the roadside. The mountain road had 18 bends and was full of dangers, but there was still an endless stream of vehicles coming and going.

Sure enough, the scenery is infinite on the dangerous peak.

Xiong Zongka has an altitude of 4,281 meters and is the best place to view the surrounding mountains and grasslands.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at Moshi Park.

What comes into view is the black mountain rocks pointing straight into the sky like a newly unsheathed sword. The metaphor I learned in elementary school is very cliché, but it really fits.

I don’t know if the ink on the pen, ink, paper and inkstone is made of this kind of stone.

It's always a pleasure to see water in a mountain made of stones. A small amount of water flows through the black lime to form a streamlined ink-colored stone flow, which has a strange and exotic feel.

The park is not big, and since I didn’t dare to exercise strenuously, it took more than an hour to walk around it.

Today's trip has come to an end and we are about to head to our hotel in Daofu Town.

I have never seen the sunshine on the plateau like this. It is bright but has nothing to do with warmth. It is very cold. Fortunately, we arrived at our hotel early.

When the staff came to replace the door lock battery, we lay down on the corridor connecting the two buildings to watch the sun come in. We drew the shadows of the dead trees on the white wall, watched them move, and erased the drawings on the wall on the blackboard. Erase the same.

The temperature in Daofu in early April has not yet recovered. The wind outside the window is making the dead branches sway. Not far away, in front of the red building, the long vertical flags in the shape of prayer flags are also rising and falling like waves. As I look at them, I feel like it. Facing the thin air of the plateau, people began to feel sleepy again.

When the sun goes down, there are very few people. A few children are playing games on the side of the street, and the town seems a bit quiet and deserted.

After wandering around for a while, the cold wind made our heads hurt, so we had to return to our residence.

I had a cold and a fever, and I couldn't sleep all night, which gave me the idea of ​​giving up on the next trip.

It really echoes the saying "The eyes are in heaven, the body is in hell."

 

2

DAY-2

The sunshine coated the mountain behind the hotel with a layer of gold foil. At seven o'clock, we gathered in the lobby and started the next day's trip.

During breakfast, all my friends who were traveling with me seemed to be unable to sleep. A boy who was traveling with me said he didn’t want to go down, so I advised him to hold on (later we both quit the group together).

Now that we have retreated and there is no convenient transportation, we have no choice but to continue walking along National Highway 318.

318, with steep slopes, sharp turns, many turns, deep ditches and magnificent scenery.

Just looking at the cliffs on the roadside is intimidating. The road is as cold and intimidating as the geography, but the scenery along the way never disappoints.

Mountains, meadows, thin trees, gravel, blue sky, scattered wire towers stand on the mountainside.

Along the way, the lines are single and the elements are pure. There is no meticulous carving by skilled craftsmen, but it can wash people's eyes clean.

After lunch, we arrived at the Sky City - Litang County, the county with the highest altitude in the world.

I didn't get off the bus because I started to have nausea and diarrhea before lunch, and I didn't dare to bother with it.

My friend brought his camera and continued with the group. So don’t delay me from sharing the next beautiful scenery with you.

This is Ding Zhen’s hometown, and many people come here because of its reputation.

Rabbit Ear Mountain is named after the top of the mountain was eroded into the shape of rabbit ears. In addition, it is also a barren mountain.

If you look closely, you can see a pair of rabbit ears on the top of the mountain in the distance. Otherwise, it is just a desolate hillside covered with gravel and weeds.

Most of the scenery in the north is green grassland and loess gravel on the plateau. Why do people flock to them?

Maybe it’s the same as “The sky is nothing, but it gives people comfort”.

Because she is vast and vast, people understand that they are just a grain of dust between heaven and earth.

Such vastness and vastness make people feel awe, respect nature, relieve knots, and eliminate worries.

Only when you take it lightly can you stop asking for extravagance and welcome freedom.

 

3

DAY-3

The highlight of this trip is today’s tour of Daocheng, but my life is at stake, so I decided to say goodbye here.

At half past one in the afternoon, we arrived home safely.

Take a big breath of the air of this city, and only after you have lost it can you understand the joy of regaining it.

 

4

DAY-4

What follows is full of scenery.

The following are the scenery of Daocheng taken by friends traveling together, please share!

Sometimes you need a model to instantly add color and warmth to the scenery.

Daocheng Yading is the highlight of the entire trip.

 

I heard that there was a snowstorm all the way up the mountain. Maybe the scenery will be more stunning next time I go there in summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xinduqiao

 

The last stop, Xinduqiao, felt a bit like spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After sorting it out for two hours, I already felt dizzy. It might be the sequelae of high-reflex syndrome, so I guess it’s Jiang Zi.