9-Day Cycle Panda Kingdom, Sichuan Province, China

We will welcome you at the airport (or railway station) and take you to your hotel. You are free to refresh and relax before we hold a briefing about the trip, later in the afternoon. We will feast on some of the best food Chengdu has to offer and eagerly anticipate the coming journey that lies ahead. Meals: dinner Overnight: Chengdu

Departing from your hotel at 8:00am, we will take a 1.5-hour drive to Wenjiang, a green and pleasant town on the edge of greater Chengdu and where we begin our cycling. Nicknamed ‘Chengdu’s Garden’, it is famous for cultivating Sichuanese Bonsai trees, which have a rich history of over 1,000 years. The most beautiful examples of these are grown from azalea’s and the first 15km of our ride takes us past many garden centres specialising in this art, providing you with the opportunity to learn more about this tradition. After 15km we will join the Wenjiang – Pixian greenway, which will take us to our riding destination of the day, The Sichuan Cuisine Museum. The greenway immediately brings you into rural Sichuan life and this area is famous for cultivating spaces and restaurants for city dwellers to do what the Sichuanese do best: eat, relax and play mahjong. Extremely quiet and peaceful, we will ride through small villages, farmlands and bamboo whilst the Jiang'an River occasionally comes into view, guiding us along. The only signs of life you are likely to see are people drinking tea and/or fishing. At about 40km, we will reach a gorgeous old hamlet settled within a bamboo forest and this will mark the end of our riding through the varied scenery of the greenway. Shortly after we will arrive at the Sichuan Cuisine Museum for an afternoon of visiting one of the world’s most famous cuisines. The museum is set within a beautiful complex with traditional buildings surrounding a well cultivated garden. In the late afternoon we will then take a 30-minute drive to Dujiangyan, the city where we will spend the night. Riding Distance: 43km Elevation: +86m / -81m Meals: All Overnight: Dujiangyan Sightseeing / Activities: • Visit Sichuan Cuisine Museum Road Quality: Predominantly concrete or tarmacked greenways in good condition, with one short gravel track.

We will start the day by taking a short drive to Dujiangyan Panda Valley and visiting the adorable giant pandas and cubs at this research base dedicated to rehabilitating pandas back into the wild. Panda Valley, although having fewer pandas, is much quieter than the research base in Chengdu city, allowing for a more intimate experience. From Panda Valley you will begin your ride on a calm country road which provides views of the mountains marking the beginning of the Tibetan Plateau on your right.  We will ride all the way to Jiezi Ancient Town, historically one of the last towns before the Tibetan Plateau on the Tea Horse Road. You will spend some time exploring the alleyways and learning about the history of this important riverside town, before sitting down to some traditional local food. In the afternoon, our ride continues along one of Sichuan’s most beautiful, and less-explored, country roads, Chongqing Road. It will take you through beautiful countryside and villages, before we finish the ride on the outskirts of Anren, dubbed ‘China’s Museum Town’. We will drive the final 10km to Anren’s Ancient Town, where we will spend the night. With a more modern history than other ancient towns we will visit on this trip, being formed in the early 1900s, it is unique for having more of a focus on culture and education, with plenty of boutique shops, cafes, restaurants and workshops to explore and enjoy in the evening. Riding Distance: 73km Elevation: +115m / -334m Meals: All Overnight: Anren Ancient Town Sightseeing / Activities: • Visit adorable giant pandas & cubs • Jiezi Ancient Town Road Quality: Predominantly tarmacked country roads in excellent condition