7 Days Sichuan Bests Tour
Chengdu / Leshan / E'mei / Chengdu / Huanglong / Jiuzhaigou
Highlights
- Visit:
- Huanglong National Park
- Jiuzhaigou National Park
- Chengdu Panda Base
- Wenshu Monastery
- Leshan Giant Buddha
- Emei Mountain
- Jinli Old Street
- Renmin Park
- Experience:
- Explore the daily life of the Giant Pandas and photograph with them;
- Enjoy the fresh air and splendid natural beauty of Mt. Emei;
- Immerse yourself in the extraodinary landscapes in Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong Valley.
Sampling Itinerary Day by Day
Day 1 Chengdu Arrival
Ni Hao! Welcome to Chengdu, the Hometown of Giant Pandas and Land of Abundance! You’ll be met by our local guide at the arrival hall of Chengdu airport / train station and escorted to your hotel in downtown area by a private, comfortable and non-smoking vehicle. The rest of today is on your own to explore this leisure city.
Arrival Ideas: Chengdu is only about 2~3 hours flying from the majority of big cities in China, such as Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, etc. You can also arrive in Chengdu by high speed trains from Xian (4hrs), Chongqing (1hr), Guilin (6hrs), Kunming (6hrs), etc.
Day 2 Chengdu (B, L)
After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel for a 15-km drive to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (simply Chengdu Panda Base). This world's most important panda scientific research center is home for over 100 giant pandas. Walk through the verdant bamboo-lined paths, witness the fascinating progression of pandas from baby to adult, watch the adolescent pandas aged 1-5, eating, playing, tumbling and climbing. If lucky, you may be able to see the precious panda babies in the nursery rooms. Don't miss the informative Panda Museum for more scientific facts about Giant Pandas.
After the memorable panda visit, head to Wenshu Monastery, a serene Buddhist temple in the bustling downtown of Chengdu. Walk in the spiritual temple and marvel at the exquisite Buddhist architectures, Buddhist statues, scriptures, and relics. Adjacent is (Wenshufang), a small bazaar for a leisure stroll to experience local market and living style.
Next, visit Renmin Park to feel the famed laid-back lifestyle of Chengdu. Sip a cup of Chinese tea in a century-old teahouse, chat with friends, watch locals indulging in different folk activities, like napping, ear cleaning, Mahjong, dancing, water calligraphy, etc.! Then, discover the famous Jinli Old Street, a vibrant hub full of local snacks, delicate artifacts, folk shows and other activities. Time will fly as you explore along the ancient streets!
Optional activity: 1) enjoy a delicious dinner of Sichuan cuisine or hotpot at a local restaurant; 2) watch Sichuan Opera at Shufeng Yayun Teahouse, featuring stick puppets, face changing, fire spitting, rolling lights, folk music, acrobatic and dance (usually during 20:00~21:30).
Day 3 Chengdu - Leshan - Mt. Emei (B, L)
In the morning, be picked up from your hotel for a 2-hour drive (148km) to Leshan Giant Buddha (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage), the world's largest & tallest stone-carved Buddha. Sitting at the confluence of Minjiang River, Dadu River and Qingyi River, the Giant Buddha was carved on Lingyun Mountain'cliff from 713-803 AD to suppress floods. Rising 71m tall, the Buddha' head is 14.7m tall and 10m wide, with 7m long ears and a knee-to-instep span of 28m, and super large insteps capable of holding over 100 people at once. On the right cliff of the Buddha is the 217-step narrow Nine Bends Plank Road with nine turns in total, ranging from 1.45m to only 0.6m wide. You will admire the spectacular Giant Buddha statue and walk down to its feet for a closer view. (Please note: you may have to queue up to enter the stairway during busy hours.)
Followed by the Buddha, move on to the foot of Mount Emei (45 minutes' drive) to visit Baoguo Temple. It is the biggest temple of the mountain and boasts serene gardens with rare plants, a library of sutras, and a huge porcelain Buddha. Explore the temple to see the famous 25-ton bronze Bell reputed as the second-largest bell in China, and enjoy different views of Mount Emei.
After the visit, drive to check in at your hotel and have a good rest for tomorrow's Mount Emei trip involving some walkings.
Optional Activity: take a 30-minutes sightseeing boat at Leshan Giant Buddha for a wonderful panoramic view of the Buddha statue on the river.
Day 4 Mt. Emei - Chengdu (B, L)
After breakfast, let's start your enchanting tour to Mount Emei Tour, a rare World Cultural and Natural heritages, and one of the Four Great Buddhist Mountains in China. This verdant sanctuary for 5,000 plants species (surpassing Europe's total) and over 2,300 wildlife species is an ideal blending resort of verdant forest and cultural treasures for your wonderful savory.
First, head to the tourist center for a 1.5-2-hour Eco-Bus ride to the mountain's top area. Walk another 30 minutes from Leidongping (2,400m) along stone steps, where you may meet wild monkeys, to the cable car station. Then, take a 5-minute cable car up to the Golden Summit (3077m), the biggest highlight and best highlight of Mount Emei. Enjoy 1.5 hours exploring the Golden Summit area. You can appreciate the 48-tall multi-faced golden Samantabhadra Bodhisattva statue, the bronze Huazang Temple tracing back to the 1st century CE, magnificent Buddhist architectures, and a panoramic view of Mount Emei surrounding. On sunny days, you can even catch the snow-capped Mount Gongga (7,556m), Wawu Mountain, more endless snowy peaks in Sichuan. If weather permits, enjoy its magnificent Cloud Sea. Finally, descend back to the tourist center via the cable car and Eco-Bus.
Your guide and driver will transfer you back to Chengdu (about 2.5~3hrs) and help you check in at the hotel. Have a good sleep!
Note: The route above is classic and suitable for most tourists of various ages. If you want more hiking, please contact your travel consultant to customize the routes based on your time and physical condition. There are 4 routes available: 2 hours (Qingyin Pavilion to Wannian Temple), 4 hours (Qingyin Pavilion to Wannian Temple + Leidongping to Golden Summit), one day (Wannian Temple to Leidongping) and 2 days (Qingyin Pavilion to Golden Summit).
Day 5 Chengdu - Jiuzhaigou (B)
After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel and transfer to Chengdu East Railway Station for the 1.5~2-hour bullet train to Jiuzhaigou. Upon arrival at Huanglongjiuzhai Railway Station, your local guide and driver will pick you up and drive (1.5~2 hour) to your hotel at Jiuzhaigou and help you check in. The rest of the day is free for you to explore the local areas and adapt yourself to the climate, temperature, and elevations there.
Day 6 Jiuzhaigou (B)
After breakfast, start your full-day visit of Jiuzhaigou Valley, the “Fairyland on Earth” listed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage known for its peculiar waterscape of calcified lakes, waterfalls and travertine beach lands. Visiting there is relaxing and joyful, as there are many sightseeing buses from the entrance to the scenic spots. You can hop on and off the buses and explore along the wooden plank roads at will. Your guide will accompany and help you explore Jiuzhai Valley's essences at a comfortable pace based on your time, energy and crowd level.
The classic route is first to take the sightseeing bus from the entrance to Nuorilang Waterfall for the symbols of Jiuzhaigou, then transfer to Zechawa Valley to see the Long Lake and Five-Color Pond, then move to Rize Valley to admire the Panda Lake, Five Flowers Lake, Pearl Shoal, Mirror Lake, etc., finally, go back to Nuorilang, descend through Shuzheng Valley and visit Rhinoceros Lake, Tiger Lakes, Shuzheng Waterfall, Sparkling Lake, etc.
After the sightseeing, be escorted back to your hotel for overnight stay.
Useful tips: 1) try to have breakfast and enter the park early to beat the crowds; 2) wear comfortable walking shoes and seasonal cloths; 3) Lunch is provided in Nuorilang Restaurant (the only restaurant in the valley) but food options are limited. You can bring some snacks/drinks or let your hotel prepare packed food.
Day 7 Jiuzhaigou & Jiuzhaigou Departure (B)
After breakfast, be escorted to Huanglong National Park, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage since 1992. It is famous for colorful travertine lakes and ponds, sinuous deep mountain valleys, snow-capped mountains and peaceful wild forests, which entitled Huanglong Park the “Wonder of the World” and “Heaven on the Earth”. First, take the cable car to the upper station of Huanglong Valley to admire the gorgeous Five-Color Ponds (altitude: 3,556m), which consists of 693 dazzling emerald-like ponds of different sizes, shapes and colors. Then, walk down the valley to appreciate the stunning Zhengyan Pool, Bonsai Pool, Lotus Waterfall, Flying Waterfall, Welcome Pool, etc. along the path.
After the visit, be escorted to the airport or railway station for departure from Jiuzhaigou. Tour ends!
1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in a comfortable-class hotel and traveling with our private tour package in low seasons. The price will be much lower if your group has 4 or more members.
2. This price is subject to change according to your traveling season, month, and date. There may be huge price increasing during the public Chinese holidays, school summer holidays (usually 2 months, July ~ August), peak tourist seasons or some special dates. (Chinese Public Holidays 2026)
3. Other factors that may change the final tour price include your group size, hotel class, tour activities, real-time exchange rate, and so on.
4. This price is based on the exchange rate USD 1= RMB 7.00. The final price will be based on the exchange rate in effect at the time of agreement with our quotation.
5. This price is only valid from now to March 31, 2027.
6. This price is not the final price until the Confirmation Letter is sent.
7. The items included and excluded in this price are for reference only. The final services included, please refer to the Confirmation Letter sent to you by the travel consultant.
Price Includes:
- English-speaking guide with the professional license as listed in the itinerary.
- Entrance fees and other fees of the scenic spots as listed in the itinerary.
- Yangtze River Cruise ticket as listed in the itinerary.
- Accommodation (comfortable-class) based on two persons sharing one room with twin beds or a double bed.
- Meals as specified with “B” (for breakfast), “L” (for lunch) or “D” (for dinner) in the itinerary.
- Private Transfers between airports, hotels and scenic spots while sightseeing in each city or area by private air-conditioned vehicle with a licensed driver as listed in the itinerary.
- Transportation: Domestic flights (economy class) or trains (second-class seat) as listed in the itinerary.
- Airport / train station pick-up and drop-off service as listed in the itinerary.
- Luggage Transfers between airports, train station and hotels.
- Travel Service Charge of our travel consultant, including the planning, handling, operational and communication charges, etc.
Price Excludes:
- China Visa (We do not offer any visa service or charge any visa-related fee.)
- Scenic spots not listed in the itinerary.
- Optional activities or other sightseeing.
- Accommodation not as listed in the itinerary.
- Meals not listed in the itinerary.
- Flights or trains not as listed in the itinerary.
- Excess Baggage Charges.
- Personal expenses of a purely personal nature such as room service, laundry, drink, Internet charge, WI-FI, fax, telephone call, etc.
- Gratuities or optional tips to guides, drivers, bellboys, etc.
- Travel insurance. Please kindly note that the full coverage travel insurance from your country of origin should be purchased in advance on your own.
Read what other travelers think about this China trip / Yangtze cruise trip. We only accept reviews from actual, confirmed travelers who purchased the tour / activity from us, so you can be sure the reviews are unbiased and authentic.
Hi Elk,
"Yangtze River Cruises and more specifically Elk has been helping us organise a very good tour in China: we were aiming to visit Chongqing, and observing that this could be combined with a crude on the Yangtze River, we opted for this, and given that this cruise at this time of the year was only 4 days, I searched extension options on the company website, found 2 extensions of interest for me and my husband, namely in Chengdu (where the tour organiser is based) and in Zhangjiajie.
1. Organisation
Booking the tour, I was a little uncertain: there are so many scams online, that I was afraid we pay for that tour and end up with nothing... but it was not the case :-)
A few days before the start of our tour in Chengdu, Elk sent me the mobile numbers of the 3 guides that would be taking us through each station of our tour, and to my great pleasure, each of them was waiting for us at the agreed meeting point. All these scheduling and organisation elements were super well defined.
Elk also asked me which category of housing I wanted and booked for us hotels and cruise bedroom in the relevant category. I was pleasantly surprised in each location.
2. Comfort
Another special comment: the hotels and cruise ship have aircond, which is as expected, and also heating systems (which in December and January was very helpful as we visited Zhanjiajie under the snow). I specify this because some people told me before the trip that in these regions, considered South China, there is usually no heating system. It's true that in some restaurants and coffee shops, there was no heating, but al our hotels had some.
3. Food
In each location we had usually at least a breakfast and lunch included, plus dinner during the cruise. All was very good and to our taste: the guides asked us ahead what kind of food we can / cannot eat and esp. for us, it was "not spicy please" and we got it alright all the time.
4. Sightseeing and Guides
In each location we had a guide speaking well to very well our language and a driver; full comfort!
In Chengdu guide Ben took us to the panda reserve and visiting it has been great fun: they are so cute. Then we went for lunch in the old city in a delicious restaurant, and visited and old temple, the touristic area, and park... and he was also kind enough to propose to us to join the local theater show (not included in the tour), which was amazing... The following morning he took us to the train station from which we would join Chongqing. He insisted to take us up to the last passport check before the train platform... that's very useful for overseas tourists not familiar with Chinese trains. Many thanks to Ben!
Then in Chongqing, Jacques took us through the city museum and main places of interest before dropping us at the gate of the ship; here also, no chance to get lost :-)
During the cruise, the staff and guides speaking our language were taking care of us onboard and during the excursions. We also took the ship lift add-on at the 3 gorges dam, which I can also recommend, what an experience!
Finally in YiChang, our guide for Zhangjiajie was waiting for us at the cruise terminal to take us to Zhangjiajie. There she took us to the 2 famous parks there, the one with Avatar peaks, great even with overcast and rain, and then to the park of the Tianmen mountain, with the glass bridges and and the 999 steps... We visited that one under the snow and walking on snow, and it was amazing, even if we could not take as many glass bridges as planned, for safety reasons. Each day, we finished with delicious lunches, too much food actually, thus we did dabao.
Thus only one summary: fantastic tour, great organisation, we are looking forward to the next one!
The only thing that was a little less good was our guide in Chongqing, Jacques: he was always speaking very loud, like if speaking to a group of 20 people while we were only two. Otherwise, nothing to improve really, it was excellent!
Best regards,
Valerie
The following photos were shared by our customer Valerie:

Chengdu City Tour | Late December 2025 | Curated by Elk

Chongqing City Tour | Late December 2025 | Curated by Elk

Three Gorges Cruise Journey with Century Paragon | Early January 2026 | Curated by Elk

Two-Day Nature Escape in Zhangjiajie | Early January 2026 | Curated by Elk
- Valerie - January 8, 2026‚ ,
Hi,
Thank you for your email. The trip to China was great. I will update you when I get back to Spain. All the best to you.
Regards,
David
- David - December 25, 2025‚ ,
Hi Elk,
We had a wonderful experience booking our Yangtze River cruise through Yangtze River Cruise Company. Elk was especially helpful throughout the entire process - extremely communicative, responsive, and patient in answering all our questions, which made the booking smooth and stress-free for our family.
The cruise itself on Century Paragon was excellent. Everything was well organized, the facilities were comfortable,and we truly had a great time. Overall, it was a fantastic experience from booking to the actual cruise, and we would highly recommend both the company and Elk's services to others planning a Yangtze River cruise.
Chen
- Chen - December 22, 2025‚ ,
Thank you Rita,
The Cruise has been wonderful, everyone involved has been very helpful. My wife and I are having a good time.
Thanks again for the arrangements.
Joseph
- Joseph - December 22, 2025‚ ,
Here are recent candid photos of this China trip / Yangtze cruise trip. If you want to share your own tour photos, simply email your photos to info@yangtze-river-cruises.com with your Booking ID Number. Thanks in advance for sharing!
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By Valerie
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