Cuopu Valley 5 Days 4 Nights: Step into the pure land of "harmonious coexistence between humans and nature."
Below is a viral-style travel guide specially crafted for Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Toutiao, focusing on "Cuopu Valley, Sichuan," a hidden secret in Western Sichuan cherished by travelers—a stunning place combining sacred lakes, snow mountains, grasslands, hot springs, and Tibetan Buddhist culture. Here is a customized 5-day 4-night high-value deep travel plan with a total budget controlled within 3,000 RMB.
🏔 "Explore Cuopu Valley with just 3,000 RMB per person! 5 days 4 nights revealed: see the sacred lake and holy mountain + soak in wild hot springs + feed Tibetan macaques—so wild!"
📍 Location: Cuopu Valley Scenic Area, Batang County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan (a hidden paradise on the Sichuan-Tibet Southern Route)
⏰ Duration: 5 days 4 nights (recommended departure on Friday | best season: June to October)
💰 Total cost: 2,890 RMB/person (top choice for students, photography lovers, and self-driving travelers)
🌟 Keywords: Western Sichuan secret | Cuopu Lake | Zhangde Grassland | geothermal hot springs | Tibetan beliefs
> "Many have been to Daocheng Yading, but those who truly understand the soul of Western Sichuan have all been to Cuopu Valley."
> This is where rhododendron seas dance with snow mountain reflections, where hot springs gush from underground, and a pure land of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
🌿 Why choose Cuopu Valley?
✅ Recommended by "Chinese National Geography" as one of "China’s top 10 self-driving routes"
✅ Home to the sacred Cuopu Lake—waters change colors between blue, green, and gold with the light, said to reveal past and present lives
✅ Close encounters with wild Tibetan macaque groups, feeding and interaction are super healing (please feed responsibly)
✅ Rich geothermal resources, natural hot spring outlets for free foot soaking or stay in hot spring guesthouses
✅ Few tourists, very low commercialization, preserving the original Tibetan area style, extremely photogenic!
📌 Fun facts:
- Cuopu Valley is located at the Sichuan-Tibet border, about 3,800 meters above sea level, in the core area of the Kham Tibetan region
- Every year in the sixth month of the Tibetan calendar, the local "Horse Racing Festival" gathers tens of thousands on Zhangde Grassland, an extraordinary spectacle
🗓 Itinerary | Detailed 5 days 4 nights plan (round trip from Chengdu)
✅ Day 1: Chengdu → Yajiang (via Zheduo Mountain, Xinduqiao)
- 🚗 Self-drive or carpool (strongly recommend carpooling in an off-road vehicle for cost-sharing)
- Chengdu → Kangding → cross Zheduo Mountain (4,298m, known as "First Pass of Sichuan-Tibet") → Xinduqiao → Yajiang
- About 340 km, 7 hours
- 🏡 Recommended stay:
- "Yajiang Impression Hotel" or "Kangba Family Inn" double room with breakfast, 260 RMB/night
- 🍜 Dinner: Tibetan restaurant for yak meat hot pot + highland barley wine + butter tea (about 60 RMB/person)
- 🌄 Photo stops:
- Xinduqiao "Photographer’s Corridor" for highland light and shadow
- Zheduo Mountain pass prayer flags for blessings
👉 Daily cost: about 450 RMB (excluding intercity transport, carpool share about 500 RMB)
✅ Day 2: Yajiang → Litang → Batang (crossing Maoya Grassland)
- 🚗 Morning:
- Pass through Litang (world’s highest city, 4,014m)
- Visit Letong Ancient Town · Thousand Household Tibetan Village (ticket 35 RMB)
- Visit Changqing Shakya Monastery—the largest Yellow Sect monastery in Kham
- Must-do: take a photo with the "Sky City" sign
- 🍱 Lunch: Litang snack shop for tsampa + yak yogurt (about 35 RMB/person)
- 🚗 Afternoon:
- Cross Maoya Grassland (100 km of alpine meadows, comparable to Hulunbuir)
- Pass Haizi Mountain Sister Lakes for a distant view (no stop for photos)
- 🏡 Stay overnight in Batang County at "Gesang Meiduo Tibetan-style guesthouse," 280 RMB/night
- 🍻 Early rest to adapt to altitude
👉 Daily cost: about 280 RMB (including accommodation + meals + tickets)
✅ Day 3: Batang → Full-day deep tour of Cuopu Valley (core highlight day)
- 🚗 Morning:
- 7:30 depart for Cuopu Valley Scenic Area (about 90 km from Batang, 2.5 hours, good but winding roads)
- Buy tickets upon arrival (currently no official entrance fee, village cleaning fee 20 RMB/person)
- 🏞 Official tour route👇
- ✅ Cuopu Lake loop hiking/cycling (bike rental 30 RMB/hour)
- Mirror-like lake reflecting Nuoerbazong Sacred Mountain, sunny days resemble "Little Nam Co"
- ✅ Zhangde Grassland herding experience
- Encounter herders riding horses and driving cattle and sheep, every shot looks like a documentary
- ✅ Temple blessing (Cuopu Monastery, free entry)
- Residence of Lama Ba Renzhen, prayer wheel wall stretches hundreds of meters
- ✅ Feed Tibetan macaques
- Feed in designated lakeside areas (no teasing), monkeys are very friendly!
- ✅ Geothermal hot spring foot soak
- Multiple natural hot springs emerge from rock cracks, water temperature up to 80°C, can boil eggs!
- Bring slippers, soak feet safely and relax
- 🍱 Lunch: bring your own dry food or buy instant noodles + sausage at village store (about 30 RMB/person)
- 🌄 Evening: wait for Nuoerbazong Sacred Mountain sunset, golden light fills the lake, breathtaking
- 🏡 Return to Batang for overnight
👉 Daily cost: about 150 RMB
✅ Day 4: Batang free activities + Jinsha River Grand Canyon view
- ☀️ Morning:
- Stroll Batang old street, experience Tibetan-style residences
- Buy supplies: mineral water, chocolate, oxygen bottles (altitude sickness prevention)
- 🌄 Noon:
- Visit Jinsha River Bridge (Sichuan-Tibet border river)
- Monument at bridgehead: "Sichuan · Tibet," one step across two provinces
- View Jinsha River Grand Canyon, rapid water flow, majestic
- 🍜 Lunch: town "Zangxiangyuan Restaurant" for Tibetan noodles + yak buns (about 40 RMB/person)
- 🎨 Afternoon:
- Options:
- Revisit Cuopu Valley outer non-fee areas for aerial photography
- Or experience making tsampa and butter tea by hand (at villagers’ home, 50 RMB/person)
- 🌃 Stay in Batang, organize photos and videos
👉 Daily cost: about 180 RMB
✅ Day 5: Batang → Litang → Chengdu (return trip)
- 🚗 Morning:
- Depart Batang, return via Litang and Yajiang
- 🍱 Lunch: Kangding city for authentic "wontons" or "cold noodles" (about 30 RMB/person)
- 🚗 Afternoon:
- Cross Zheduo Mountain, arrive in Chengdu (around 7 PM)
- 🛍 Last-minute shopping at Chunxi Road or IFS
👉 Daily cost: about 140 RMB (excluding carpool fees)
💰 Total budget breakdown (per person)
| Item | Cost |
|------|------|
| Round-trip major transport (high-speed train + carpool) | 800 RMB (Chengdu↔Batang carpool off-road vehicle, cost shared) |
| Accommodation (4 nights) | 560 RMB (260×2 + 280×2) |
| Local transport (carpool + short taxis) | 150 RMB |
| Meals (5 days, 80 RMB/day) | 400 RMB |
| Attraction tickets (Litang + cleaning fees, etc.) | 60 RMB |
| Emergency expenses + foot soak gear | 120 RMB |
| Souvenirs + mountain goods shopping | 120 RMB |
| Total | ≈2,870 RMB |
✅ Remaining 130 RMB, enough for extra fuel or more souvenirs!
📸 Photo tips | Shoot like a pro to wow your friends
1. Cuopu Lake reflections: shoot early morning when windless, use a polarizer to remove glare, create "sky mirror" effect
2. Tibetan macaque interaction: low-angle shot capturing people and monkeys with snow mountains and lake background
3. Hot spring steam: slow shutter to capture rising steam + silhouette, full atmosphere
4. Maoya Grassland road shots: drone follow shots of vehicles driving on endless grasslands
5. Prayer flags + sacred mountain combo: wide-angle horizontal shot of colorful prayer flags fluttering in the wind
❗ Notes
- ⚠️ Altitude sickness reminder: elevation 3,500–4,200 meters, recommend taking Rhodiola a week in advance, avoid bathing or strenuous exercise on day one
- Want to save money? Stay in Cuopu Valley village guesthouses (from 150 RMB/night) instead of county town
- Large temperature difference day and night, bring a windbreaker + fleece liner + sunglasses for sun protection
- Respect religious beliefs: do not casually photograph monks, do not step on prayer flags, turn prayer wheels clockwise
- The scenic area is still semi-developed, no signal, no gas stations, fill up fuel and download offline maps before departure
📌 Follow me, next trip to Xinjiang Ili, lavender sea + Nalati Grassland, only 3,200 RMB per person!