10-Day Sichuan (China) Trip in June

[CPhotography]

hi all.

will be going to sichuan, china during the earlier part of june - mainly doing community work with a group. likely to be there for about 10 days.

likely i'll be shooting for the trip and so will bring my camera down to take pictures. as such i'm hoping to get advice on equipment that i should bring along. for instance, wide-angle for scenery?

also, hoping to get advice on the must-dos over there as well as places/activities that would be good for photography.

also if anyone has any other advice on anything else (e.g. how's the situation in sichuan, safe to take camera out anywhere, would changing lenses there be advisable, or anything else!), do feel free to voice them out!

thanks lots!

 

[ed9119]

what camera gear do u have currently? and WHERE in sichuan will you be?

Its a very big province

 

[CPhotography]

ops sorry forgot to include earlier!

will be in Dujiangyan for most of the trip to help with community work. towards the later part of the trip, might be going over to Chengdu - Jinli Street and Chunxi Road.

just got my camera gear recently so currently having a D300, 50 1.8 and possibly bringing tamron 17-50 down too. would tamron suffice for general shooting? hope to hear some suggestions/recommendations and i'll try my best to get the most suitable equipment for the trip!

thanks!

 

[Kienke]

If you can, visit 九寨沟. The scenery there is nice. Across different seasons they have different scene.

 

[Metalfreak]

just came back from chengdu. mosy of the time i wans't in the city though bcoz all the nice scenery are out of the city, like what kienke mentioned about jiuzhaigou. overall it is safe for me to bring the camera ard when i am walking in the city. nothing happened.

you can opt for ancient towns ard chengdu like luodai town (with hakka minority) and huanglongxi town, which only takes more or less 1hr bus ride frm chengdu if time is tight for you, bcoz bus ride to iuzhaigou will take more than 10hours! domestic flight took only less than an hour, but it is very ex.!

a must do is to visit the panda breeding centre. or you can go to wolong natural reserve to see the panda as well =D

hope these can help u decide on what lenses to bring!

 

[leezacch]

Well, i've not much of a experience with DSLR and lens, just a newbie.

Basically DJY (Du Jiang Yan) .. or sichuan in general is low exposure to the sun, the locals even say that out of the 365 days in a calendar year, 300 days you will not see the sun. Stock up on your cup noodles if you have a strong taste bud to certain taste(s). Their spiciness.. not all Singaporeans (or even the local Chinese) can take it.

Du Jiang Yan itself has a very very vintage/classic place with a river ( i kinda forgot the name, but am sure the host will bring you there for sure). Night photography there is the best.

Try not to bring too much equipment (camera).. eh.. attract attention (lah).

I went there last year, wanted to catch the eclipse with the locals. but okie (lah), in the end we spotted a five-minute finale of the entire episode.

I've been there to provide similar service as your project. Maybe we can PM each other to share experiences and all.

 

[CPhotography]

thanks guys!

just came back from chengdu. mosy of the time i wans't in the city though bcoz all the nice scenery are out of the city, like what kienke mentioned about jiuzhaigou. overall it is safe for me to bring the camera ard when i am walking in the city. nothing happened.

you can opt for ancient towns ard chengdu like luodai town (with hakka minority) and huanglongxi town, which only takes more or less 1hr bus ride frm chengdu if time is tight for you, bcoz bus ride to iuzhaigou will take more than 10hours! domestic flight took only less than an hour, but it is very ex.!

a must do is to visit the panda breeding centre. or you can go to wolong natural reserve to see the panda as well =D

hope these can help u decide on what lenses to bring!

thanks for the advice! i'll probably try go to those places you mentioned if time permits. one thing for sure is we'll be seeing the pandas toward the later part of the trip. however the place is stated as "panda breeding ground conservatory" - is it the same as the one you mentioned?

Basically DJY (Du Jiang Yan) .. or sichuan in general is low exposure to the sun, the locals even say that out of the 365 days in a calendar year, 300 days you will not see the sun. Stock up on your cup noodles if you have a strong taste bud to certain taste(s). Their spiciness.. not all Singaporeans (or even the local Chinese) can take it.

Du Jiang Yan itself has a very very vintage/classic place with a river ( i kinda forgot the name, but am sure the host will bring you there for sure). Night photography there is the best.

Try not to bring too much equipment (camera).. eh.. attract attention (lah).

I went there last year, wanted to catch the eclipse with the locals. but okie (lah), in the end we spotted a five-minute finale of the entire episode.

I've been there to provide similar service as your project. Maybe we can PM each other to share experiences and all.

thanks for the advice! you mentioned about a "vintage/classic place with a river" - where exactly is this place? do you have more details/information on this place. sounds good and i'll probably try to bring tripod for this place. however i'm not sure if i'll be going to that place. :think:

--------------------------------------------------

hope to hear more from anyone who has something to share!

 

[shierwin]

Link to info on Dujiangyan and move around this site for info on the rest of Sichuan:

http://destguides.ctrip.com/china/chengdu/sight4597/

 

[Metalfreak]

thanks guys!



thanks for the advice! i'll probably try go to those places you mentioned if time permits. one thing for sure is we'll be seeing the pandas toward the later part of the trip. however the place is stated as "panda breeding ground conservatory" - is it the same as the one you mentioned?


u r right. its the same. i spent only 2hrs at most, but be sure go in the morning when panda is active =D

 

[scubagolfer]

I wonder if you really have time to do much there. How many free days do you have?
There are so many things to do in SzeChuan.
Leshan the giant seated Bhuddah, Emei Shan where you can take sea of clouds, and jiuzaigou. But jiuzaigou in june not so good.
If you can extend, you can follow local tours at very cheap rates.
3nights 4 day tour of jiuzaigou/huanglong only cost 700-900RMB ...bus, hotel and food.

By the way, Chunxi road is like Orchard Road ... the main shopping area in Chengdu. And Jinli to me is too commercialised as too many shops selling tourist stuff ...

 

[ahbian]

Tagging along on this thread.

Planning a trip to Sichuan in June (number of days flexible)

Original intent was to go from Chengdu to Litang, then back to Chengdu.

Thinking of Chengdu -- Kangding -- Litang, some some questions here.

1) Which are the other worthy possible stopovers from Chengdu to Litang?

2) On the return leg from Litang to Chengdu, is there an alternate route so I would not need to re-visit the same places on the forward leg?

 

[ManWearPants]

Tagging along on this thread.

Planning a trip to Sichuan in June (number of days flexible)

Original intent was to go from Chengdu to Litang, then back to Chengdu.

Thinking of Chengdu -- Kangding -- Litang, some some questions here.

1) Which are the other worthy possible stopovers from Chengdu to Litang?

2) On the return leg from Litang to Chengdu, is there an alternate route so I would not need to re-visit the same places on the forward leg?

I did a similiar trip a year before the earthquake, in 2007 i think. We take different routes to Litang and back to Chengdu.

Refer to the map below, some places I went to are 泸定桥，海螺沟，泸沽湖，稻城-亚丁，理唐，康定，丹巴，四姑娘山，etc so it is a loop. But this is before the earthquake so not sure which are the places that are still accessible. 稻城-亚丁 is especially scenic and untouched. But we were smuggled in by the 藏族 in the early hours of the morning due to local unrest between the Zang and the local state officials, forbidding tourist to enter. Not sure of the situation now. If you can， do visit the place.

This is a very tiring and adventurous trip. We have to wake up early every day and reach the next destination late at night. But we see almost every moutainous landscape nature has to offer - glaciers, snowcap mountains, hotsprings, valleys of virgin forests, "moon surfaced-like" mountains, etc. I spent 2 weeks there and is insufficient. Missed out on the Panda conservation and 张艺谋's 成都印象。Also missed my flight home

 

[lestwe4get]

Tagging along on this thread.

Planning a trip to Sichuan in June (number of days flexible)

Original intent was to go from Chengdu to Litang, then back to Chengdu.

Thinking of Chengdu -- Kangding -- Litang, some some questions here.

1) Which are the other worthy possible stopovers from Chengdu to Litang?

2) On the return leg from Litang to Chengdu, is there an alternate route so I would not need to re-visit the same places on the forward leg?

I had not been there but was told from friend's friend (a local Chengdu hardcore backpacker) that 丹巴、道孚 was worth going and not touristy. It will be a loop from there towards Siquniang and back to Chengdu.

Checked a route here:
http://www.tourunion.com/tourmall/line/105.htm

 

[sshayndell12]

Sichuan is also home to the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base , one of the most important centers in the world for the captive conservation of the Giant Panda.
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