Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou Travel Experience

As the second largest city in Sichuan, Mianyang plays an essential role that a junction connecting scenic region in northwestern Sichuan and major cities in Sichuan. Being 130km away from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, Mianyang covers an area of over 20,000 km² and has a population of more than 5 million.

With a long history since The Three Kingdoms times, Mianyang which is the hometown of famous poet Li Bai, has lovely scenery and deep cultural roots. Besides, the transportation to and in Mianyang is convenient that there are highways, railways and airlines connecting major cities in China: Mianyang Nanjiao Airport has direct flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Kunming.

Mianyang Nanjiao Airport

Where is Jiuzhaigou

Located at the northwestern Sichuan Province and 390km away from Mianyang, Jiuzhaigou Valley is a worldly famous scenic region attracting millions of tourists to come. Being famous for its crystal water, silver waterfall, colorful foliage and mysterious culture, Jiuzhaigou had been declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Crystal water in Jiuzhaigou

There is a saying that “one enjoys no better water sceneries after a Jiuzhaigou tour”. If you have ever come to Jiuzhaigou, you would be shocked by the 114 lakes and pools and 5 waterfalls. The water in Jiuzhaigou is so clean that you can stand by the bank of a lake seeing fished swimming around. Sometimes the water is crystal, sometimes it’s blue and sometimes it changes to green, which is a magic scenery in the world.

You would be shocked by the landscape of Jiuzhaigou

How to Get to Jiuzhaigou from Mianyang

However, the more charming the scenery is, the more difficult the transportation is. Although there are several airlines providing flights to Jiuzhaigou, the weather of Jiuzhaigou still strongly effected the flights that sometimes would be cancelled and delay.

Charming scenery in Jiuzhaigou

There are 3 major methods to get to Jiuzhaigou from Mianyang: by the bus, by the plane and by the car.

Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou by Bus

You can go to Pingzheng Bus Station in Mianyang, where you can take a bus to Jiuzhaigou. The ticket price is about 90 RMB and the bus departs whenever its full before 13:00 every day. It would take you 7-8 hours on the ride.

Pingzheng Bus Station in Mianyang

Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou by Plane

There is no direct plane commuting Mianyang and Jiuzhaigou. The most convenient way to travel from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou is that taking a bus at Mianyang Pingzheng Bus Station or taking the high-speed rail at Mianyang Railway Station to Chengdu, which has the most amount of flights flying to Jiuzhaigou every day even in the low season like winter or take a bus to Chengdu. The Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou flight ticket price is about 1500 RMB and if you book in advance in the low season, you may get a 50% off at most. The plane would take you less than one hour, but if you are going to take the plane from Mianyang, the ride costs you more than 4 hours.

Chengdu Shuangliu Airport has the most amount of flights flying to Jiuzhaigou every day

Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou by Car

Among all these choices, self-driving is the most casual way, or you can rent a car with a local driver to take you to Jiuzhaigou. In this case, you can stop at wherever you like and take photos. You can manage your own schedule without worrying about missing the beautiful view on the way. This 390km-long ride need 10 hours to finish.

Self-driving is the most casual way from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou

Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou Travel Map

Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou Travel Map

The Shortest Route to Get to Jiuzhaigou from Mianyang with Sample Itinerary

Day 1: Mianyang to Baima Wanglang via Jiangyou and Pingwu

Starting from Mianyang in the morning to the north, after 1-hour ride (45km), you will arrive at Jiangyou, where there are Li Bai’s residence, Li Bai Museum, Hai Deng Martial Club and other famous sceneries that present the deep cultural root of Sichuan. You can buy some Zhongba soybean sauce and Jiangyou Fuzi (a kind of Chinese Medicine) as souvenirs.

Mianyang is the hometown of famous poet Li Bai

Continuing go north, after 3 hours (120km), you will arrive at Pingwu County. Regarded as THE FIRST COUNTY OF GIANT PANDA, Pingwu County has abundant tourism source like Wanglang Natural Reserve, Chixiu Bao’en Temple, and Shuhan Jiangyou Guan. You can have a lunch in Pingwu County before you leave.

Chixiu Bao’en Temple in Pingwu County

After lunch, you can easily drive 1.5 hours (80km) to Baima Wanglang, one of the 4 earliest National Nature Reserves in order to protect giant panda and other wild animals and their habitat in China. You will enjoy the Tianmu Lake, Cuoxijia Ancient Village, and other Tibetan Villages.

Tianmu Lake in Baima Wanglang

At night, you can stay at Xiangsujia Ancient Village, which is the starting station of the shuttle buses commuting inside the reserve. Or you can stay at Cuoxijia Ancient Village where there are guest houses near the Tianmu Lake with a charming lake view at a price of 300 RMB.

Tibetan villages in Baima Wanglang

Day 2: Visiting Baima Wanglang

Getting up in the morning, you can take the shuttle bus to White Bear Valley, and visiting Bai Beach, Golden River Valley and Milinyoujing. In the autumn, the Golden River Valley is a vast golden grassland surrounded by small flowers with a far view of a forest of arrow bamboo.

Golden River Valley

Milinyoujing has a soft gallery road built by thousand-year pine needle and sands, and sometimes the giant pandas would show up and drink the water along the river.You can go to the Virgin Forest in the afternoon if you want. Or, you can visit the Bao’en Temple, which is one of the largest-scaled and completely-reserved Building group constructed in Ming Dynasty.

You can drive for 1.5 hours and go back to Pingwu County from Baima Wanglang staying in Pingwu County for a night, and the price for a room is about 200 RMB or less according to the level of comfort.

Milinyoujing

Day 3: Pingwu to Huanglong or Jiuzhaigou

Beginning from Pingwu County, it only takes you 4 hours to get to Jiuzhaigou. The total distance is 190km and the road condition is unstable. Even in the early summer, the road might be snowy due to the high altitude, which is the reason that this route is NOT recommended to drivers without snowy-road experience. Along the way the views are lovely and peaceful. You will witness the majestic valleys, magnificent mountains, peaks covered by the snow, and clouds surrounding in the waist of the mountains.

The snowy-road from Pingwu to Huanglong or Jiuzhaigou

There are 2 choices for different people.

First one is getting up early, going to Huanglong in the noon and visiting Huanglong National Park in the afternoon because compared with Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong National Park only costs you half of the day. You can stay in Huanglong.

The second one is getting up at late morning, going to Jiuzhaigou after having a lunch, and arrived at Jiuzhaigou in the night. You could stay in Jiuzhaigou Goukou, where is only 1km away from the park.

You can stay in Jiuzhaigou goukou hotels

Day 4: Visiting Jiuzhaigou

Spending a whole day visiting Jiuzhaigou National Park is worthy. The splendid water, glorious waterfall and imposing mountains are around you, preventing all the modern interruptions. Tourists who loves trek can trek in the park since the gallery road is well-constructed when tourists with less energy can choose taking touring bus. After one day tour, you can go back to the hotel outside the park or secretly stay inside the park. (click here for more)

Glorious waterfall in Jiuzhaigou

Day 5: Coming back to Mianyang from Jiuzhaigou

You can drive back to Mianyang from Jiuzhaigou within 6 hours (300km) through Pingwu and Jiangyou to Mianyang. Or you can drive through Wen County, Qingchuan County, Jian’ge County to Mianyang, which takes you 7 hours (370km) if you are tired of the same view.

The Altitude changes along the way from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou

Along the way from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou, the altitude changes sharply. This whole route could be separated into 3 parts. The first part is from Mianyang to Jiangyou, which is located in a low altitude region of 500m-800m. The second part is from Jiangyou to Pingwu County, during which part the altitude raises from 800m to 1500m slowly. And the highest altitude of Baima Wanglang reaches 3500m. the last part is from Pingwu County to Jiuzhaigou, which is the most difficult and dangerous part for drivers. The average altitude of this part is about 1400m, and the highest point at Huangshan Mountain which is inevitable if you are going to Jiuzhaigou from Mianyang is about 3500m where the roads are always covered by ice and snow. The altitdule of Jiuzhaigou is 1900m in the entrance.

The Altitude changes along the way from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou

NOTES:

1. The altitude is pretty high, in order to deal with the high-altitude sickness and high UV level and low temperature, you should bring along some medicine, oxygen bottle, sunscreen and warm clothes.

2. Please make sure your driver license is legal in China, and you are an experienced driver due to the unstable and hard road condition.

3. From Mianyang to Chengdu, there are plenty of methods like through railway, bus and plane. They are all convenient and fast, among which taking bullet trains is the fastest and clearest way.