Introduction

Sichuan, a land of many guises, has a long history with 4,500 years, is one of the most popular travel destinations in China.

Sichuan, also called “Chuan” or “Shu”, is located in the hinterland of southwest China and at the upper branch of Yangtze River. The west Sichuan is part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the east is Sichuan Basin, neighboring with the Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet TAR, Qinghai, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

Passes thousands of years, Sichuan seems the nature’s pet that nature gives all of the magical, unique and delicate beauties to Sichuan. With the diverse, stunning and distinctive sceneries, sights and local folks, Sichuan has always been described a place has all country’s landscapes. It has the massive landscapes of mist-shrouded mountains, roaring rivers, thousands of lakes and tranquil villages, but it is also gloriously for the ancient Shu cultures, many famous people are from here; it is the birthplace of the Bronze Age civilizations of ancient Sichuan, but is also blended with the multiethnic cultures and customs, gains the name of “national corridor”; it is the origin of Chinese Taoism, and is also home to the famous giant panda. Sichuan, is a province has the most World Heritages in all of China. Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve, Huanglong Nature Reserve, Mount Emei & Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area, Mount Qingcheng & the Dujiangyan Irrigation System and China’s Giant Panda Sanctuaries are listed into “World Heritage” one after another by UNESCO. Travel in Sichuan, you will everywhere experience the infinite charm for the gorgeous cultures, colorful multiethnic folks and fascinating natures.

Geographically speaking, Sichuan could be roughly divided into two completely different parts along the meridian of longitude 130 °. The east part is Sichuan Basin, where is low for the terrain, scattered with the hills, mounds and mountains. The west is the plateau, the average altitude is more than 3,000 meters. It is the world for high snow mountains, glaciers, swamps and grasslands.

Sichuan Basin

In the remote Bronze Age, Sichuan already appears the brilliant civilization. The excavations of Sanxingdui Museum and Jinsha Museum are the outstanding representatives for this ancient civilization, which push China’s history records forward to the Shang Dynasty (17th BC – 11th BC) and is the known earliest civilization for ancient Chinese history so far.

In Sichuan, there are thousands of well-preserved temples, most of the Buddhism temples. Mount Emei is even one of the four famous Buddhism mountains in China. Sichuan is also the birthplace of Taoism, which has been widespread in Sichuan since Weijin Dynasty (220-589 AD). The influential Taoist temples and sites are Green Ram Taoist Temple, Tianshi Cave and Shangqing Temple on Taoist mountain of Mt. Qingcheng. At the same time, the prosperous religions arise and create many religious grotto statues, rock carvings and paintings. Some of them are quite large in the scale or the quantity, mostly are Buddhism statues, with a few for the Taoism or Confucianism. Leshan Giant Buddha, Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff and carved stones in Rongxian County could be the splendid ones among them.

Yangtze River and Yellow River civilizations are acknowledged as the origins of China, and Sichuan is located at the territory between of them. Here, the Yangtze River flows through Sichuan basin and southwest of the province, Hengduan Mountain Ranges stretch along the western plateau. From the geographical location, Sichuan connects the south and north of China, so that it has always been the important communication and transport hub for nations and minorities since ancient times. Therefore, it is not strange Sichuan is a multi-ethnic areas nowadays and is one of a provinces has the most minorities in China. Yi, Tibetan, Hui (Muslim), Qiang and Chinese Han are all could be found in Sichuan. Sichuan is the second largest habitation for Tibetan, is the only home for Qiang minority and is the largest inhabitation for Yi minority in China. Due to this reason, you will have chance to view many particular and interesting traditional minority festivals in Sichuan, the typical ones are the Horse Racing Festival for Tibetan, Torch Festival for Yi minority, Qiang’s New Year and Dragon Boat Festival for Han.

Giant panda is China's unique wildlife, currently, there are about more than 1,000 giant pandas, most of them live in Sichuan, hence, Sichuan is known as "the hometown of giant pandas". Sichuan has the world's largest giant panda Sanctuary and has 25 of totally 32 giant panda nature reserves of China.

The typical climate in Sichuan is subtropical, mild and moist. For the eastern basin, it has four distinct seasons and plenty of rain, which gives Sichuan the abundant resources and products. Except the giant panda, Sichuan still has kinds of rare animals and species, such as: Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, Sichuan Takin, Spotted Deer, Black-necked Cranes, Silver Fir, Cyathea, Chinese Dove Tree and Metasequoia ect. Besides that, Sichuan is well-known for the Sichuan cuisine and distilled spirits. Sichuan cuisine is one of the four famous cuisines in China, and it is the most popular cuisine too. China’s top five white spirits, there are four in Sichuan.

Western Sichuan Plateau (Kham)

Western Sichuan, located at the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is known as the western Sichuan plateau, and is also the main parts of Kham regions. In the Tibetan language, Kham means the rimland or remote lands. The traditional Kham areas incorporates modern-day parts of Gantze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and parts of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Prefecture in Sichuan, Muli Tibetan Autonomous County in Liangshan Yi Minority Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, Chamdo Prefecture in Tibet, Yushu and Golog Tibetan Prefectures in Qinghai and Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan. The people inhabit in the Kham areas are called as Khampa, whom gains much charm for the most handsome and warlike men and the prettiest women of all Tibetans. Go west of Sichuan, you will have the fabulous impressions, with a vast landscape of high-plateau grasslands, snowcapped mountains and the traditional Tibetan cultures. Its climate, geography, flora and fauna all lend it a unique, almost magical atmosphere. Sceneries here are varied and could be kinds of rich with more Swiss Alps senses than the high Tibetan plateau. Mt. Gongga, the highest peak is 7,556 meters, and is regarded as “the king mountain of Sichuan”; Danba, famous for its stone villages and ancient watchtowers, is thought to be one of the most beautiful villages in China; the glaciers at Hailuogou (Whelk Valley), classified as a modern glaciers, is rarely seen with the low altitude and the nearest distance to the big city; Daocheng, three scared mountains of Mt. Chenrezi (6,032m), Mt. Jampeyang (5,958m) and Chenadorje (5,955m) stand, will lead you explore the deep of Shangri-La by trace the footprint of James Hilton; The countless cultural and religious heritages, wide spread folk song of Kangding Love Song, the birthplace for King of Gesar and the Tibetan literary heritage of Dege Press Printing House, the spectacle of Serda Larung Gar WuMing Buddhist Institute. You will view the boundless grasslands and swamps in Zoige, Aba, Hongyuan and Serxu, where the traditional Tibetan nomads inhabit and the Black-necked cranes often appear; you will pass by many majestic huge mountains, alpine lakes and glaciers, while the Jinshajiang River, Yarlung River and Dadu River rush through the vast plateau, which form the mysterious and arduous wonders of amazing Kham.

Travelling into Sichuan, every inch of this land is worthy to visit!