Chengdu
Adventures in China - Mount Qingcheng, Chengdu Panda Research Base, New Century Global Centre (Part 2)
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In the month of June, I've decided to travel to China looking for an adventure. In this trip I will travel from Chengdu to Xian to search for beautiful landscapes and tourist attractions of central China. (continued)
Mount Qingcheng 青城山
The day after I got back from Mount Emei, I decided to visit another mountain haha. Towering over the Chengdu plains, Mount Qingcheng is one of the most famous Taoist mountains in China. The direct translation of its Chinese name is "Mountain of Green". It was't until a few days before that I learnt that this mountain was featured in Dreamwork's movie Kung Fu Panda 2 and inspired the landscape of the Panda Village in Kung Fu Panda 3.
Mount Qingcheng has 2 peaks, namely the Front mountain and Back mountain. The front mountain has numerous ancient Taoist and Buddhist temples and historical sites while the back mountain is more of a hiking trail with lush green forest, flowing streams and a grand peak. For this trip I decided to head to the back mountain to enjoy what the natural reserve has to offer.
To get to the back mountain, I took the high speed rail from Chengdu to Mount Qingcheng station, followed by bus 101. After paying for the entrance tickets, I hiked up the mountain. The natural scenery is magnificent. I get to trek across bridges with waterfalls underneath and there is a lake where you have to wait for the ferry to bring you across to the other side. Upon reaching the summit, I was treated with cool and invigorating air and stunning sights of dense and lush trees surrounding the mountain.
If you find riverside dining too boring, here's an all new dining concept in China.
The climb took me about 3 hours. There is a cable car ride down to the foot of the mountain if you are tired (which I was) but it was pretty expensively priced at RMB150. A very intriguing scenic spot, this mountain, dubbed "the most peaceful and secluded mountain under heaven" sure lived up to its name. This mountain is very different from Mount Emei as it does not stand out in the majestic view of the surroundings but rather its greenery and quaint nature is what attracts people to visit this mountain.
Panda Research Base
Pandas!!!
When you come to Chengdu, this is one of the places that you definitely must go. Besides having natural habitats that are created for the giant pandas to live in, The research base also have other facilities such as fodder room, panda sleeping quarters and medical station. These pandas are housed in a simulated environment where these Pandas are bred to prepare for their release into the wild. Clumps of bamboos and bushes were grown all over the compound for their diet.
This place is packed with people so it is very hard to take a good photograph of these adorable little creatures.
Panda feeding room.
Panda sleeping quarters
These red pandas are free to roam in the area. Besides pandas, the research base also housed other rare species of animals such as white storks.
The rest of the day was spent exploring Chengdu city. I visited the world's biggest building, New Century Global Centre in Chengdu. The building includes a hotel with over 2000 rooms, bowling alley, cinema, a water park with an artificial beach and retail shops and restaurants lined up along the mall. It is like a sustainable small town by itself!
World largest building - New Century Global Centre
A peek at the interior of the mall.
This marks the end of my stay in Chengdu. From here, I will be taking a sleeper train to Guangyuan 广元, a small ancient city in Szechuan Province and then to Xi An. Till next time then.
