With an area of 485,000 square kilometers and a population of over 87 million, Sichuan is the hometown of Deng Xiaoping, the general architect of China’s reform and opening up to the outside. Besides this civilization factors, Sichuan is a fairy land in the world with its marvelous attractions. 5 scenic spots in Sichuan, namely Jiuzhaigou Valley, Huanglong Scenic Area, Dujiangyan Irrigation System—Mount Qingcheng, the Giant Stone Buddha at Leshan-Mt. Emei, and Giant Panda Habitat, have been listed as World Natural and Cultural Heritage Sites by UNESCO, just next to Beijing in terms of heritage site numbers. Almost every variety of tourist resources is available here: plateaus, mountains, ravines, basins, hills, plains, rivers, lakes, hot springs, waterfalls, limestone caves, and even danxia formation.
The area lies in the Sichuan basin and is surrounded by the Himalayas to the far west, including the nearby Tibetan Plateau, Qinling range to the northeast and mountainous areas of Yunnan to the south. Gongga Shan is the highest point in the province at 7,556 meters situated within the Daxue Shan. The Yangtze River flows through the basin and thus is upstream to areas of eastern China. The Minjiang River in central Sichuan is a tributary of the upper Yangtze River, which it joins at Yibin. Plate tectonics formed the Longmen Shan fault, which runs under the north-easterly mountain location of the 2008 earthquake.
In January, 3
oC to 8
oC in the lowlands, -9
oC to 3
oC on the plateau, and 8 to 13
oC in the south; in July, 25
oC to 29
oC in the lowlands, 11 to 17
oC on the plateau, and 22
oC to 26
oC in the south.
Best Time to Travel
The best time to travel in Sichuan is in spring and autumn, especially in February and March, July to October. Spring is dry in Sichuan lowlands and south area, and during this time is concentrated precipitation period on the plateau. Summer is hot in Sichuan lowlands and south area, but there seems no summer on the plateau. Autumn is rainy season in Sichuan lowlands and south area, but it has strong sunshine on the plateau. Winter is warm in Sichuan lowlands and south area, but there might be a little cold on the plateau.
Clothing Tips
The temperature difference is big between day and night in the scenic areas of Sichuan Province, and with a long sunshine time; even if in summer, it is cool in the morning and evening but hot at noon. So remember to bring enough clothes to keep warm. In winter, if you go to the Xiling Snow Mountain or high altitude places in Sichuan, be sure to wear thick sweater and warm clothes, also you can bring down jacket.
Culture
Cultural Region: Bashu Culture is a branch of the Chinese culture and it can be divided as Ba culture and Shu Culture. Ba Culture main region is centered on Chongqing of Sichuan Basin, and Shu culture is of the Sichuan region. Bashu culture took shape over thousands of years ago, dating back to the late Neolithic Age.
Ba culture region: Nanchong, Bazhong, Dazhou, Guang’an, Leshan Muchuan, Neijiang (Longchang, Zizhong), Guangyuan east and Zigong, Yibin, Luzhou (note: the complete Ba culture area is Chongqing, northeastern southeast of Sichuan, Hubei Enshi and Yichang, and Shaanxi Hanzhong and Ankang region)
Shu culture region: Chengdu, Mianyang, Deyang, Suining, Ya’an, Meishan, Ziyang, Leshan, Guangyuan
west, Zigong (Gongjiang and Rongxian county) and Neijiang (downtown district, Dongxing strict and Weiyuan)
Panxi culture region: Panzhihua and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan (Liangshan prefecture capital of Xichang, so often referred to as Panxi)
Western Sichuan Plateau culture region: Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (located in the western Sichuan plateau area).
Language
Sichuan dialect is popular and is the main language in Sichuan and Chongqing area and adjacent areas of surrounding provinces. Chinese ancient southwest mandarin originated from the ancient Shu language. Sichuan dialect has about 120 million users. Today's Sichuan dialect took shape of the Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi period of "Hubei and Hunan fills Sichuan" big immigration movement, which was a fusion of different places immigrant dialects of Shu dialect that popular in Sichuan province before Ming and other dialects from Hubei and Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and other places gradually. Chengdu-Chongqing dialect (in Chengdu and Chongqing area) is the standard pronunciation of Sichuan opera and all kinds of Chinese folk art forms, due to the Sichuan dialect mutual intelligibility degree is higher, so all the area can communicate barrier-free.
Sichuan Opera
Sichuan opera is a colored and dazzling pearl in the treasure-house of Chinese opera. It has a long history, and it saves a lot of excellent traditional repertoires, rich melodies and superb performing arts. As early as the Tang dynasty there is a saying "Shu opera plays champion in the world".
Tourism
Since the ancient times, Sichuan has been enjoying the honor of “the land of abundance”. Excellent geographical conditions and economic conditions make it possible for Sichuan to become one of the earliest economically developed regions. According to archaeological studies, human activities did exist in the region of the present Sichuan even in the Paleolithic Age and that the Chengdu Plain used to be the cradle of cultures in the upper reach of Yangtze River 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Where the Guanghan Sanxingdui ruins and Chengdu Jinsha ruins are situated were once the center of politics, economy and culture of the ancient Kingdom of Shu. Sichuan’s agricultural civilization and urban civilization appeared in early times, and agriculture, metallurgy, silk weaving and architecture all made progress to a certain extent in history.
Best place to visit
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, located in the west plain in the Sichuan Basin, is a famous historical and cultural city with a history over 3,000 years. It serves as the provincial center for politics, economy, culture, and transportation. Known as the land of abundance, Chengdu boasts plentiful local products, a pleasant climate, a large number of scenic spots and historical sites, and fine traditional handicrafts well known both at home and abroad. In Chengdu, tourists can go to Panda Base to play with panda, Sanxingdui Museum to dig out the history of Sichuan, and Jinli Old Street to experience the local life.
Leshan City, original called Jiazhou, belonged to Shu Country in the history. It is the national historic and cultural site. Leshan City possesses two world heritage sites (Leshan Giant Buddha and Mr. Emei) in the world.
Jiuzhaigou County, original as Nanping County, is located in the western Sichuan. It is one the boundary between Sichuan Province and Gansu Province. The world famous scenic sport Jiuzhai Valley lies in the southwest direction of Jiuzhaigou County, about 41km away from the county. The various geographical characters and various scenic types make Jiuzhai Valley as the unique site in the karst geography in the world.
Transport
2014 annual highway, railway, aviation and waterway transportation means finished goods turnover 247.44 billion ton kilometers, an increase of 9.5% over the previous year; Completed the passenger turnover 158.4 billion passenger-kilometer, an increase of 8.9%; Railway mileage of 3958 kilometers; Highway mileage of 5506 kilometers; Inland port container throughput capacity of 441000 Teu.
Train
Li Bai, one of the most famous poets in Tang dynasty exclaimed in his poem: “Walking on the narrow paths of Shu Kingdom is more difficult than climbing up to Heaven!” But after construction unceasingly, Sichuan became the southwest transport hub. Railway transport is an artery of connecting means in and out of the Sichuan province. Sichuan railway has formed railway network including 5 trunk railways, 8 railway branch line and 4 local railways of Baocheng railway etc.
Water Transport
Yangtze River across the Sichuan province is the trunk waterway transportation that connects with the Minjiang River and the Jinsha River and other branch lines, and forms a natural water transportation network in the land of Sichuan. Sichuan waterways mainly are the Jinsha River section, the Yangtze River section, Tuojiang River and Jialing River system. Among them, the below Jinsha River new town, the Minjiang River in Leshan, and Jialing River Langzhong here all the year round can connect steamers, Luzhou, Leshan, and Yibin are the important cities along the waterway.
Highway
Sichuan road mileage in the country is the first, total mileage of highway is the first in the west of China.
Chengdu is the center of Sichuan as the road network, trunk and branch roads distribute as radial, at the same time, complement with intertwined east-west line road and north-south line. The main arterial roads are: Sichuan-Tibet highway, Sichuan-Qinghai highway, Chuanlong highway (Sichuan to Gansu), Chuanshan highway (Sichuan to Shaanxi), Chuanyu highway (Chengdu-Chongqing), Chuanyun east highway (Sichuan-Yunnan east), Chuanyun middle road (Sichuan- Yunnan middle), Chuanyun west road (Sichuan-Yunnan west), and Sichuan-Yunnan highway, etc. Chengdu passenger bus station is one of the largest highway passenger transport hub stations in Sichuan. Sichuan first highway, Chengdu-Chongqing expressway is a highway traffic artery between Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality directly under the central government.
Air
Sichuan has Chengdu Shuangliu international airport and other feeder airports. Chengdu Shuangliu international airport has become one of the four major airports in China, is one of the busiest civil aviation hubs in the Midwest China, and it is the most important passenger and cargo distribution center in southwestern China. There are airlines use Chengdu Shuangliu international airport, more than 140 routes, which can directly fly to many cities at home and abroad.
Minorities and Festival
Minorities
Sichuan is a multi-ethnic habitation, there are 55 ethnic minorities of 4.908 million people. Yi, Tibetan, Qiang, Miao, Hui, Mongolian, Tujia, Lisu, Manchu, Naxi, Bai, Zhuang, Buyi, Dai for indigenous minorities in the province. Sichuan is the country's only habitation of Qiang minority, and the largest habitation areas of Yi and second largest Tibetan habitation areas of the country. Minorities mainly live in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture and Muli Tibetan autonomous county, Mabian Yi autonomous county, Ebian Yi autonomous county, Beichuan Qiang autonomous county. It is known as "China's second Tibetan area", "China the only Qiang zone", "China's first Yi communities".
Yi minority has the largest number of people among Sichuan ethnic minorities, they mainly inhabits in Sichuan Liangshan and Anning river valley. Tibetans in Sichuan, 95% of them speak Tibetan and Gyalrong, there are about 40% of the Tibetans well-versed in mandarin. 95% of Yi minority use Yi language, of which about 60% of them well-versed in mandarin. Qiang people, about 70% of the population speak Qiang language and 70% of them can speak Chinese. Among indigenous minorities, except the Hui minority, other minorities use their native language.
Sichuan is a big province with Hakka people in the western China, since "Hubei and Hunan fills Sichuan" immigration movement at the end of Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty, gradually formed Hakka dialect centered on Longquanyi district. Hakka population of 500000, and they have better retained the hakka language and culture of life. In the whole Sichuan, currently there are 700000 people can speak hakka dialect. More than 85% of people in Luodai ancient town are hakka descent, and they are still fully carried on hakka customs and they speak hakka dialect which praised as "ancient Chinese living fossil".
Festival
Yi minority has the largest number of people among Sichuan ethnic minorities, they mainly inhabits in Sichuan Liangshan and Anning river valley. Yi people have their own language, and calendar. The lunar June 24 is the Yi people's most grand festival, Torch Festival. Torch festival is the ancient and important traditional festival of Yi, Bai, Naxi, Jino, Lahu minorities, which has a profound connotation of folk culture, renowned at home and abroad, known as the "Oriental carnival". When to hold the Torch Festival is different according to different minority, but mostly in the lunar June 24. The main activities are a bullfight, sheep fight, chicken fight, horse racing, wrestling, singing and dancing performance, beauty contest, and so on. In the new era, the torch festival is endowed with new folk custom function, and produced a new form.
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anchu, Naxi, Bouyei, Bai, Zhuang, and Dai are indigenous ethnic groups in the Province.
