Giant panda reserves
The Chengdu Research Base and Dujiangyan near the capital Chengdu, plus Wolong further west. Arrive at 07:30, when the pandas feed.
Sichuan · Sichuan
Sichuan Tours 2026 | Chengdu, Pandas & Beyond | JoyoTour
Sichuan Province is larger than France: the panda reserves and Chengdu, its capital, then Jiuzhaigou's turquoise lakes, Mount Emei and the Tibetan plateau road west. Private Sichuan tours from US$219 a day.
The short version
Sichuan Province is entered through Chengdu, its capital, and it holds more variety than any other province in China: giant pandas in the bamboo forests west of Chengdu, the turquoise lakes of Jiuzhaigou, the 71 m Leshan Buddha and the road west onto the Tibetan plateau. Give it ten days, or five if you stay inside the basin around Chengdu and skip the far west.
- Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province and the base for every panda trip.
- Jiuzhaigou has 108 turquoise lakes in a 72 km valley at altitudes up to 3,000 m.
- Mount Emei rises to 3,099 m and is one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains.
- The Giant Buddha at Leshan is 71 m tall and took 90 years to carve.
- Sichuan is larger than France, and its far west is Tibetan in language and religion.
The place itself
What Sichuan is actually like
Sichuan covers 485,000 square kilometres — more than France — and drops from 7,556 m at Gongga Shan to 180 m in the eastern basin. That vertical spread is why the province holds bamboo forest, alpine lakes, subtropical farmland and Tibetan pasture inside a single border.
Chengdu, the provincial capital, is where almost everyone starts, for the pandas and the food. But the province's best scenery is a day's drive or an hour's flight away: Jiuzhaigou in the north, Yading in the far west, and the road through Danba and Tagong that climbs onto the plateau and eventually reaches Lhasa.
Sichuan also has the most exportable food culture in China. Hunan is sharper, Guangdong is more refined, but Sichuan is the one visitors take home: mapo tofu, twice-cooked pork, dan dan noodles, and hotpot in a room fogged with chilli and steam.
Destination — click to open the guide
Province or autonomous region
Provincial capital
Major river
Pins are plotted from real latitude and longitude on a 5° graticule. This is a schematic orientation diagram, not a political map — no boundaries are drawn.
What not to miss — Sichuan
Jiuzhaigou
A 72 km valley of 108 turquoise lakes and tiered waterfalls at 2,000–3,000 m. One hour by air from Chengdu.
Mount Emei
3,099 m, one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains, with a cable car to the Golden Summit and monkeys on the walking path.
Leshan Giant Buddha
71 m of Maitreya carved into a river cliff between 713 and 803 AD. Take the boardwalk down, then the boat out.
Danba, Tagong and the plateau road
Tibetan stone towers, grassland monasteries and the Gongga range — the overland route toward Litang and Tibet.
Hailuogou glacier
A glacier descending to 2,850 m beneath a 7,556 m peak, reached by cable car through cloud forest.
China tours that include this stop — Sichuan
Golden Triangle & Giant Panda
The three great capitals plus a morning with the pandas of Chengdu — the trip we recommend to seven out of ten first-time visitors.
★★★★★4.9 164 reviews
From US$1,690/per person
View tourPanda Volunteer Express
Five days in Sichuan with a half-day volunteering at a panda centre — cleaning enclosures, preparing bamboo and meeting the keepers.
★★★★★5.0 64 reviews
From US$980/per person
View tour
Yangtze River Cruise Odyssey
Beijing, four nights afloat through the Three Gorges, and Shanghai — the classic river journey with shore excursions included.
★★★★★4.7 87 reviews
From US$2,190/per person
View tourGrand China Odyssey
Five regions, one journey: imperial north, panda country, the karst rivers of Guilin and the skyline of Shanghai, with Hangzhou's West Lake.
★★★★★4.8 132 reviews
From US$2,580/per person
View tourGetting there and away
Chengdu Tianfu (TFU) and Shuangliu (CTU) between them handle the international and domestic traffic, with daily long-haul services to Europe, North America and Asia.
Jiuzhaigou has its own airport an hour from Chengdu; the overland route takes 8 hours through the Min mountains. We normally fly one way and drive the other.
Within the province, rail lines reach Leshan and Emei in about an hour. West of Kangding, road is the only option and the passes run above 4,000 m.
Best time to visit — Sichuan
| Month | Weather | Crowds | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C / 4°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
| February | 14°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Very busy | Good |
| March | 18°C / 10°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| April | 24°C / 16°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| May | 28°C / 21°C · cool, damp | Busy | OK |
| June | 32°C / 25°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| July | 35°C / 28°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| August | 34°C / 27°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| September | 29°C / 23°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| October | 24°C / 17°C · clear and mild | Very busy | Best |
| November | 18°C / 11°C · clear and mild | Quiet | Best |
| December | 13°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
How many days do you need?
Ten days covers Chengdu, the pandas, Leshan, Mount Emei and Jiuzhaigou comfortably. Five days keeps you in the basin — pandas, Chengdu, Leshan and Emei. Fourteen if you drive west to Danba, Yading and the Tibetan plateau.
Plan these days properlyMeet guides who cover this area
Chengdu
Wang Fang
National Tour Guide Certificate, English
★★★★★5.0132 reviews
- English
- Mandarin
Wang Fang trained as a chef before she became a guide, and it shows when she reads a menu in thirty seconds and orders the dish the kitchen is actually proud of. Her Chengdu mornings start at a market by 07:00 and end at a hotpot table she booked three days earlier. She is also firm about chilli tolerance: she asks once, remembers, and never lets a guest sit through a dish they cannot finish.
She ordered for us for nine days and not one dish was wrong, including the one my son would eat.
Elena R., Spain
- Sichuan cooking: market-to-table mornings, hotpot and street snacks
- Managing chilli tolerance for mixed groups, children and first-timers
- Chengdu teahouse culture and the etiquette of a mahjong table
- Restaurant booking strategy at peak hours
Wolong, Sichuan
Lin Xiaoyu
National Tour Guide Certificate, English
★★★★★4.9187 reviews
- English
- Mandarin
Lin Xiaoyu studied wildlife biology and spent a year as a keeper assistant before she started guiding, so she talks about pandas as animals rather than mascots, including what twelve hours of bamboo does to a digestive system. She runs volunteer days with the timing of someone who has cleaned enclosures at 06:00. Children adore her, largely because her supply of panda facts survives a four-hour car ride.
Our daughter asked forty questions and Lin Xiaoyu answered every one. We learned more in four hours than a week.
Michael T., United States
- Giant panda behaviour, diet and conservation status
- Volunteer programme days at Dujiangyan and Bifengxia
- Family pacing: short walks, hands-on stops and snack timing
- Sichuan wildlife beyond pandas: takin, red panda and bamboo forest
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Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Sichuan?
Chengdu, in the eastern basin of Sichuan Province. Chengdu is the capital and the transport hub of Sichuan — international flights, high-speed rail to Xi'an and Beijing, and the road and air links to Jiuzhaigou, Leshan and the Tibetan areas of western Sichuan.
What is the difference between Chengdu and Sichuan?
Chengdu is the capital city; Sichuan is the province around it, 485,000 square kilometres in size. A Chengdu trip means pandas, teahouses and hotpot within a couple of hours of the city. A Sichuan trip adds Jiuzhaigou, Mount Emei, Leshan and the Tibetan plateau of the west.
How many days do you need in Sichuan?
Ten days for Chengdu, the panda reserves, Leshan, Mount Emei and Jiuzhaigou. Five days keeps you in the basin around Chengdu. Fourteen if you drive west through Danba and Yading onto the Tibetan plateau.
Is Jiuzhaigou worth the trip?
Yes, and October is the month to go. The valley holds 108 mineral-blue lakes, travertine waterfalls and forests that turn red and gold in autumn. It is a full day from Chengdu each way, so we build in two nights.
When is the best time to visit Sichuan?
March to May and September to November. Chengdu is mild but humid year-round, with grey winters and little sun. Jiuzhaigou peaks in mid-October for autumn colour, and the western plateau is only reliably open from May to October.
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