Live Your Best Lives
A trip to Seda alone generally takes three to four days. If you can buy a direct bus from Chengdu to Seda, you can depart in the morning and arrive in Seda in the evening. If you need to transfer in Ma'erkang or Kangding, you'll need two days. Therefore, travel time accounts for a significant portion of your itinerary. Besides Seda, Wenchuan, Miyaluo, Kangding, Xinduqiao, and Baiyu are also popular tourist destinations along the way. If you have time, you can explore them at your leisure.
D1: Chengdu → Seda
D2: Seda → Larung Gar Buddhist Academy → Sky Burial Platform → Seda
D3: Seda → Chengdu
D1: Take the bus to Seda at 6:00 in the morning from Chengdu Chazidian Bus Station (it is best to buy the ticket one day in advance), arrive at Seda County at about 21:00, and find a place to stay in the county.
Day 2: At 8:30 AM, go to Seda Bus Station to purchase your ticket back to Chengdu the next day. Then, take a van to Larung Gar Buddhist Academy (6 RMB per person). You can ascend to the mandala at the top of the mountain and overlook the valley dotted with red wooden houses. If you have the opportunity, you can attend classes at the academy with lamas and nuns. After lunch, you can charter a car or hike to the Sky Burial Platform to watch the sky burial, which usually takes place between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM. After the burial, you can return to Seda County.
D3: Take the bus back to Chengdu at 6:00 am and arrive in the city at about 20:00.
D1: Chengdu → Wenchuan → Li County D2: Li County → Miyaluo → Partridge Mountain Tunnel → Zhuokeji Guanzhai → Maerkang
D3: Maerkang → Seda
D4: One-day tour around Seda
D5: Seda → Ganzi
D6: Ganzi → Luhuo → Daofu → Bamei → Tagong → Xinduqiao
D7: Xinduqiao → Kangding → Chengdu
D1: Depart from Chengdu in the morning, take photos of the Wenchuan earthquake site and Taoping Qiang Village along the way, and arrive at Gulugou in Li County in the evening. You can soak in hot springs and stay overnight in Li County.
D2: It’s not long from Li County to Miaoluo, where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery and take photos. Then you will pass through the Partridge Mountain Tunnel to Zhuokeji Official Village, where some buildings from the Tusi rule period are preserved, which are very distinctive. After taking the photos, drive to Ma'erkang for accommodation.
D3: Depart from Ma'erkang, walk and take photos, and arrive at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in Seda in about 6 hours. Take photos of the sunset and the evening glow on the top of the mountain. Stay overnight at Larung Gar Hotel on the top of the mountain and take photos of the night view at night.
D4: You can spend the day touring the Buddhist Academy, listening to Buddhist scriptures, chatting with lamas and nuns, and then stay in Seda at night to take photos of the night view.
D5: Depart from Seda for Garze in the morning. You can take photos of Nailong Mountain, Luogouliangzi, and Yalong Sacred Mountain along the way. Stay in Garze at night.
D6: Depart from Ganzi and pass through Luhuo and Daofu to reach Bamei and Tagong grasslands. While enjoying the grassland scenery, you can also see Yala Snow Mountain. In the evening, rush to Xinduqiao, the photography paradise. If you arrive early, you can climb the mountain next to Xinduqiao to take pictures of the sunset. If you are lucky, you can also see the King of Sichuan Mountains - Gongga Snow Mountain.
D7: Return to Chengdu along National Highway 318 via Kangding, Luding and Ya'an.