Chengdu to Huanglong Transportation Guide: Is There any Direct Bus from Chengdu to Huanglong? e

Unfortunately, there is no direct public bus from Chengdu to Huanglong yet. Tourists can choose to self-drive to Huanglong, take a bus to Jiuzhaigou and then transfer to Huanglong, or take the plane to Jiuhuang Airport.

Introduction of Chengdu

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, China, attracts millions of tourists from all over the world to come every year. Located in the eastern Sichuan, Chengdu is one of the three most populous cities in Western China (the other two are Chongqing and Xi'an) which is famous for Sichuan cuisine, natural views and the Giant Panda. The surrounding Chengdu Plain is also known as the "Country of Heaven" and the "Land of Abundance".

Giant Panda in Chengdu

Chengdu is the inevitable junction connecting the world and beautiful views in Western Sichuan with completed transportation system. The life pace of Chengdu is quite slower than other populous cities that People enjoys playing Mahjong, eating hot pot, chatting, and sipping tea. Most of the tourists from other countries would stay in Chengdu for one to two days immersing themselves in the leisure before they go to Huanglong or Jiuzhaigou.

Chengdu hot pot

Introduction of Huanglong

Situated at the northwestern part of Sichuan and 150 km away from Chengdu, Huanglong is a piece of wonderland with colorful lakes, silver waterfalls, diverse forest ecosystems, snow capped peaks, and hot springs. Huanglong means Yellow Dragon in Chinese. Seen from a far distance, Huanglong’s landscape looks like a golden dragon arching across the valley.

Seen from a far distance, Huanglong’s landscape looks like a golden dragon arching across the valley

As one of the World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO, Huanglong National Park welcomes millions of tourists every year. Both of Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou are more noted for their autumn scenery. But Huanglong always be overshadowed by the other one for kinds of reasons. The altitude of Huanglong is higher than Jiuzhaigou which makes it difficult to get because many people would suffer from a high-altitude sickness. And the developing process of Huanglong is a little bit slow than in Jiuzhaigou. Since now, there is no direct bus connecting Chengdu and Huanglong, which decreased lots of tourists’ traffic. On the other hand, less tourists means more space for the nature. Especially in autumn, compared with the chilling harsh beauty of winter and spring, Huanglong is more lively that all kinds of beauty gathering at once.

Autumn scenery in Huanglong

3 Days Jiuzhaigou Valley and Huanglong National Park Local Tour

What is the Most Direct Way to Huanglong from Chengdu

The most direct way to Huanglong is self-driving. For tourists who are legal to drive in China and familiar with the road condition in the northwestern Sichuan, self-driving not only provides a direct way between Chengdu and Huanglong, but also offers chances to stop at wherever you want to enjoy the scenery along the way to Huanglong.

Self-driving from Chengdu to Huanglong

Moreover, the Xueshanliang Mountain with an altitude of 4017m is an inevitable part of going to Huanglong by the car. But the road condition is extremely unstable because of the high altitude, low temperature, big snow and heavy mist. Also the mountain road has so many turnovers which would easily leads to traffic accident. Fortunately, with the opening of Songpan-Xueshan Tunnel in October, 2017, self-driving from Chengdu to Huanglong is going to be faster and safer.

The road condition near Xueshanliang is extremely unstable

Here are two routes for your reference:

1. The western route: Chengdu-Dujiangyan-Wenchuan-Maoxian-Songpan-Chuanzhu Temple-Huanglong

2. The eastern route: Chengdu-Guanghan-Mianyang-Jiangyou-Pingwu-Huanglong

Chengdu to Huanglong East & West Route Map

Both of these routes would take you 7-8 hours and about 300 RMB for oil cost one way. The total length of the eastern route (408km) is longer than the western route (376km), but the length of highways in eastern route is longer with better conditions and natural views while the western route has more ethnic cultural sceneries like Tibetan villages and Qiang paintings.

Qiang buildings in Wenchuan

Most of the tourists choose to go to Huanglong from the western route and come back to Chengdu via the other one to fully enjoy the beauty of Sichuan.

What is the Most Economic Way to Huanglong from Chengdu

The most economic way to Huanglong is taking a bus to Chuanzhu Temple or Jiuzhaigou and then transfer to Huanglong.

Chegndu to Chuanzhusi Temple and Then to Huanglong

There is only one bus from Chengdu to Chuanzhusi Temple, which is 40km away from Huanglong, in every morning at 09:30 with a ticket price of 114 RMB. The distance is about 308 km which costs you 6-7 hours.

After arriving at Chuanzhu Temple, you can take a taxi or share a car with other tourists to Huanglong at a price ranging from 50-200 RMB.

Chengdu to Songpan and Then to Huanglong

There are 2 buses from Chengdu to Songpan every day respectively in 07:30 and 11:00 in the morning in Chadianzi Bus Station. The total distance is 332km and costs you 119 RMB and 7 hours. Songpan is located at 50km away from Huanglong.

After arriving at Songpan, you can take the public bus connecting Songpan and Huanglong at a price of 50 RMB every morning or book a car at 200 RMB per car to Huanglong.

Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou and Then to Huanglong

More than 10 buses get to Jiuzhaigou from Chengdu every day from 06:30 to 10:00 in the morning, which depart from Chadianzi Bus Station or Xin’nanmen Bus Station. The ticket price ranges from 126 RMB to 160 RMB for one way, and you can but a round way ticket in these stations as well.

After 10 hours ride, you can choose to get off the bus in Chuanzhu Temple and transfer to Huanglong or stop at Jiuzhaigou and take a public bus in the next morning to Huanglong. The distance between Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong is 127km and the public bus might take you 3 hours.

4 Days Chengdu Jiuzhaigou Huanglong Overland Tour

Price From: USD 490

What is the Fastest Way to Huanglong from Chengdu

The fastest way to go to Huanglong is by the plane. Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong Airport, which is also called Jiuhuang Airport, is located 55km away from Huanglong. There are more than 10 airlines running from major cities in China like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Chongqing, Zhengzhou to Jiuhuang Airport, among which Chengdu Shuangliu Airport has the most frequent airlines.Flying from Chengdu to Jiuhuang Airport costs you 50 minutes and about 1000 RMB. During slack seasons, some other cities would stop their airlines to Jiuhuang Airport but Chengdu remain several flights every day. Accordingly, in order to encourage tourists to come to Huanglong in slack seasons, there always be discounted plane ticket from Chengdu to Huanglong. You can spend only 500 RMB to buy a ticket in winter and spring.

Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong Airport

After arriving at Jiuhuang airport, you can take the shuttle bus which is stopping right at the exit gate from the airport to Huanglong, which will cost 22 RMB for one-way trip and 40 RMB for a round-trip. It will take you an hour. However, given to the limited number of runs, most of the tourists tend to rent cars themselves. Some driving routes are provided by Rental Company. The fee would be 400 RMB of driving from Jiuzhaigou airport to Huanglong via Jiuzhaigou National Park.

Most of the tourists tend to rent cars themselves to Huanglong

NOTES:

1) The shuttle bus schedule is from 09:00 to 17:00. If your arrival time is pretty late, there might be no shuttle bus waiting.
2) Some accommodations offer pick-up service in Huanglong. Please contact them before and after you booking a room.