Things to do in Yajiang

Heavenly Road Eighteen Bends Viewing Platform

The Heavenly Road Eighteen Bends road is U-shaped, and there are 3 Heavenly Road Eighteen Bends Viewing Platform along the entire road section where you can enjoy the spectacular road scenery.

Sunrise Golden Mountain

Sunrise Golden Mountain is a breathtaking natural wonder in Yajiang County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and one of the most notable views along the 318 Sichuan-Tibet Highway. This magnificent scene is due to Yajiang County's unique geographical location—situated in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with high altitude and abundant sunshine. The special terrain and climatic conditions allow the sunlight to hit the mountain peaks just right. When the first rays of morning sunlight touch the peaks of the snow-capped mountains, the white snow-capped peaks are instantly gilded with a layer of brilliant gold, creating a striking contrast with the deep blue sky—a truly stunning sight. The best time to view the Sunrise Golden Mountain is at sunrise. Spring and fall offer stable weather and high visibility, making them the best seasons for viewing. Standing on a viewing platform at an altitude of over 4,000 m, gazing at Mount Gongga as it transitions from silvery white to golden yellow in the morning light, this visual feast, lasting only a few minutes, is enough to be unforgettable for a lifetime.

Gao'ersi Mountain

Gaoer Temple Mountain is the first pass between Yajiang County and the western Sichuan plateau, and the second mountain on the southern Sichuan-Tibet line. The vast and vast plateau, the light blue sky, the deep blue sky, the white clouds sometimes pile up on the top of the mountain and sometimes drift in the sky, like snow lotus, like Hada flying. The sun came out, and the peak of Gongga Mountain shone with a holy silver light. The vegetation on both sides of this mountain is very rich, and all you can see along the way is green, with shrubs and trees. After passing halfway up the mountain, I saw that the top of the mountain was completely covered by alpine meadows. In the blue sky, white clouds floated. All the mountain tops are flying with colorful prayer flags: blue flags represent the sky, white flags represent white clouds, red flags represent fire, green flags represent green water, and yellow flags represent the earth. The scriptures and Buddha statues are printed on the prayer flags. Every time the prayer flags flutter in the wind, it is a chanting. Each prayer flag is entrusted with the good wishes of the Tibetan people.

Jianziwan Mountain Pass

Jianziwan Mountain (Jianziwan Liangzi, Jianziwan Mountain) is named for the post road that winds up the mountainside in a scissor-like shape. Its Tibetan name, "Bolangong," means "mountain top with fog all day." The relative height of Jianziwan Mountain is over 1,000 m, and the ridge elevation is over 4,000 m. Its main peak is Duo'alacuo. The eastern slope is densely forested, primarily with spruce, alpine pine, fir, and oak. To the west, it connects to Kazila Mountain, with lush pastures stretching to Litang. \nJianziwan Mountain winds everywhere; it is a desolate, natural highland pasture. The mountains roll and undulate, the slopes are majestic and rounded, the valleys are surrounded by mountains, streams meander into the distance, vegetation and grasses intermingle, and cattle and horses graze leisurely across the mountains... Herders' black-and-white tents are scattered sparsely across the hillsides, valleys, and meadows, while herds of yaks, horses, and sheep forage leisurely. This mountain has no precipices, cliffs, strange rocks, or rushing streams, but the rolling, undulating mountains make one feel as if they have returned to the plains and hills, stretching as far as the eye can see.

Gao'ersi Mountain Black Stone City

Gaoer Temple Mountain is located on National Highway 318, with an altitude of 4412 meters, which is one of the best locations to view the Daxue Mountain. The Black Stone City of Gaoer Temple Mountain is named after the mani piles piled up with cold and mysterious black stones.

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Dujiangyan Scenic Area

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System is located along the main branch of the Lancang River, west of Dujiangyan City. It was constructed in the Qin dynasty around 256 BC by Li Bing, Prefecture Chief of Shu County, and his son. It is one of the few ancient Chinese water conservancy projects that has remained preserved and intact. The project consists of three primary works—Yuzui Diverting Embankment, the Feishayan Spillway, and the Baopingkou Water Inlet, and two secondary works which include the Baizhangdi (the thousand-feet dam) and Renzidi (the y-shaped dam). They divide the Yongjiang River into an outer and an inner branch, the former of which is used to divert floods and the latter for irrigation. This has allowed the Western Sichuan plateau to become "the land of abundance" as we now know it.

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Mount Qingcheng

Mount Qingcheng has long been praised as "Tranquil Paradise under Heaven," with its peaks encircling like city walls—hence the name. Legend says Zhang Daoling of the Eastern Han dynasty established Taoism here in a thatched hut, making it the ancestral home of Celestial Master Taoism, where temple incense still burns today. The mountain divides into front and back sections: the front features Taoist temples and cultural relics, commonly referred to as "Mount Qingcheng" by most travelers; the back excels in natural landscapes like pools, waterfalls, streams, and gorges, making it ideal for hiking and summer retreats. The highlights of Qianshan are concentrated. Starting from Jianfu Palace beside the mountain gate, follow the ancient stone steps upward past Natural Picture, Tianshi Cave, Chaoyang Cave, and Shangqing Palace, with the summit's Laojun Pavilion as the final vantage point. Tianshi Cave, also called Changdao Temple, is one of the mountain's largest Taoist complexes—its front courtyard holds a millennium-old ginkgo tree allegedly planted by Zhang Daoling, while the cliffside Ink-throwing Trough behind is said to be where the celestial master drew mountains with vermilion ink. Painting master Zhang Daqian once resided at Shangqing Palace, styling himself "Guest of Qingcheng." At the mountain's base, Yuecheng Lake's mirror-like waters add ethereal beauty to the lush greenery. The rear mountain entrance is the quaint Tai'an ancient town. From here, the trails connect Wulong gully and Feiquan gully into a loop, with views like Misty spring triple pools, Double spring water curtain cave, and Hundred-zhang long bridge accompanied by the sounds of water and shaded woods. The Longyin gorge walkway built along cliffs overlooks rushing streams below, making it a dedicated hiking route. The mountain stays pleasantly cool even in midsummer. The front mountain and back mountain entrances are not connected, usually requiring separate itineraries. Most 1-day tours choose one of the two. The front mountain's main temples can be visited in half a day, while the back mountain loop is longer and requires reserving most of a day. Travelers wishing to see the sunrise often ascend the mountain a day early, staying overnight at mountain temples for convenient morning viewing.

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Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum

Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage is the former residence of Du Fu, the Sage of Poetry, during his exile in Chengdu. In the winter of 759 AD, Du Fu came to Chengdu with his family to escape the An Lushan Rebellion. In the spring of the following year, he built a "thatched cottage" by the Huanhua Stream and lived there. Du Fu resided here for three years and nine months in total, during which he composed more than 240 poems that have been passed down to this day. Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage is hailed as "the holy land of Chinese literary history." In the late Tang Dynasty, the poet Wei Zhuang located the site of the thatched cottage and rebuilt the thatched hut. Thereafter, Du Fu Thatched Cottage underwent fourteen large-scale renovations and expansions from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties to the present day. After the founding of New China, in 1952, Du Fu Thatched Cottage was fully renovated and officially opened to the public. In 1955, the Du Fu Memorial Hall was established, and in 1985 it was renamed Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum. It is now one of the first batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, a National First-Class Museum, a National Key Protection Unit for Ancient Books, and a National 4A-Level Tourist Attraction. Its area has also grown from the "one mu of cleared thatch" when Du Fu built the cottage to nearly 800 mu today, including 300 mu of cultural relic area and 500 mu of Huanhua Garden area. Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum is a public welfare Class II institution, and is also additionally designated as the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Poetry, Calligraphy and Painting Academy Art Museum and the Chengdu Chinese Calligraphy Museum. It currently has an authorized staffing of 123 positions and 16 internal working bodies, with its main source of funding being admission ticket revenue. Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum is a museum of ancient architecture, a large-scale center for the collection and display of Du Fu research materials and Du Fu poetry calligraphy and painting in China, an important platform for inheriting and promoting excellent Chinese poetry culture, a representative base of classical gardens in western Sichuan, and a protection and exhibition center for ancient architecture in western Sichuan. Its ancient buildings feature wooden column-and-tie structures, with representative buildings including the Grand Hall, the Hall of Poetry History, the Ministry of Works Hall, the Thatched Hut, and the Sutra Library; its distinctive poetic garden views include the Bonsai Garden, the Orchid Garden, and the Plum Garden.

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Mount Emei

Mount Emei is one of the four famous mountains of Chinese Buddhism, and it is also the temple of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. There are numerous Buddhist monasteries in the mountains that combine to give this place a holy and serene atmosphere. The scenery in the mountains are beautiful. The four seasons each have their own characteristics. If you are lucky, you can see the sunrise and sea of clouds. Do note that the monkeys in Mount Emei are notoriously naughty. They are not afraid of people, and even take the initiative to ask tourists for food.