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🚌 Driving Distance: 320 km，About 4.5 hours drive
👣 Hiking Distance: 10 kmReturn Route
🔍 Tour Type: Leisure
Road Type: Pebble Road and Forest Trek
⛰️ Highest Altitude: 3164 m
🔝 Climb Distance: 306 m
🏁 Difficulty: ★★
Bawang Lake, an ethereal and dreamy land. Lying quietly in the hinterland of Gongga Mountain — the king mountain of Sichuan, it’s surrounded by peaks, eroded by glaciers and guarded by firs and pines with lush grass and breeze. It is located exactly in the high plateau valley at the junction of Kangding and Shimian County in western Sichuan, at an altitude of 3000 to 3200 meters. The clouds cover the mist all year round, and the light smoke curls up. Surrounded by snowy peaks, trees and grasses, there are barely any traces of human beings. The Tianwan River, which originates from the southern side of Gongga, brings the plateau snow water melted under the main peak of 7556 meters, rushing back and forth, and constantly gathering the trickle oozing from the dozens of surrounding peaks to make this fairy lake.
Caoke Tibetan Township is located in the Tianwanhe Provincial Scenic Area. There are a number of large hot water and small hot water hot springs in the territory and known as “the first spring in the Southwest” of natural hot spring resources. Praised as the magic potion by the locals, it contains more than 60 kinds of trace elements that are beneficial to the human body.
DAY1 Chengdu-Ya’an-Hanyuan-Shimian-Xieluopuzi Tibetan Village-Caoke Village (320km)
07:50 Meet at Exit B, Metro Line 1, Hi-Tech Zone and the bus will leave at 08:00 on dot.
08:00-11:30 We’ll pass Ya’an and Hanyuan and reach Shimian County at noon. Shimian is located at the southernmost Ya’an City, the southern foot of Gongga Mountain and the middle reaches of the Dadu River.
11:30-12:30 Lunchtime! We’ll stop somewhere along the way to have lunch at your own expense according to real-time traffic conditions.
12:30-15:30 After lunch, we’ll drive for about half an hour to Xieluopuzi Tibetan Town, which is a natural ancient Tibetan village hidden in the deep valley. It remains unknown to the tourists but it is worth a visit with profound culture.
15:30-16:30 Continue drive to Caoke Village and it takes about 1 hour to get to our destination. We’ll first make room arrangements after arrival and you’ll have some time to take a rest.
17:00-18:00 Hot spring is the best choice for some serious R & R while being fatigued from a long journey. There are two commercial hot spring places that are both walkable from our hotel. It’s around 25-50 RMB/pp according to the spot priceat your own expense.
18:30-22:00 Dinner time! Let’s enjoy the local delicacy firewood chicken! If you feel you could eat a little more, we could have BBQ later. On this chill early autumn night, nothing beats fresh and simply prepared food and cold beer while playing games and chatting freely.
DAY2 Caoke Village-Bawang Lake-Chengdu (320km)
07:00-07:30 Breakfast time! Please pack all of your belongings before breakfast since we are not coming back to the hotel after the hike in the morning.
07:30-09:30 After breakfast, we’ll drive for about 2 hours to the starting point of Bawang Lake and get ready to hike.
09:30-12:30 Hike through the natural forest trail for about 3 hours to reach Alpine Lake and you’ll be able to enjoy the snow mountain view along the way. You will only have to climb up the gentle slope with an altitude of 300 meters, which is suitable for the majority.
12:30-13:00 Lunchtime! Please prepare your own lunch box.
13:00-15:00 After lunch, we’ll follow the same way to go downhill to the parking lot.
15:00-20:00 Get back to Chengdu.
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