Thorn Tree travel forum

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Me and some friends were at Tagong last May and had a great time. The people are interesting and the surrounding countryside is very beautiful. My friends (but not I) have also been to Tibet and said they enjoyed the Tibetan atmosphere in Tagong much more that in Tibet proper; less spoiled and more relaxed. In other words, make it to Tagong if you can.

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Unfortunately there is no "old town" Chengdu unless you count the recently built replicas around Wenshu Temple, Wuhou Temple, and the neighborhood around the Dragon Town Youth Hostel. No matter, you'll enjoy the place.

In June, you'll be just a few steps ahead of the peak travel crush of summer as schools will let out just a bit later this year after such a late Spring Festival. Still, you may need to adjust your mindset a bit as Sichuan is very much on the beaten track now.

I love the Buddha in Leshan: where else can you see people madly scramble for a photo on the feet of a giant holy icon before security guards shoo them off? Try that with a gargantuan Jesus!

Emei is great too; love the old men in bamboo sandals chugging up the mountain with 5 cases of bottled water on their back...you'll never complain about your luggage again! Also look out for chubby middle-aged guys smoking cigs and talking on their mobiles being carried around on rudimentary palanquins by sure-footed porters...who says China has changed all that much?

I think I'm the only person not enchanted by Tagong...all I've seen is an ugly new town built to handle all the tourism, lots of locals pestering people to ride their ponies, Chinese tourists happily doing same, and trash tossed all over the place. That said, the journey there and beyond does offer a lot of magical scenery.

I think you'll probably enjoy the northern route into Garze and, if I were the esteemed Losang, I'd probably say just keep going and head on up into Qinghai if you can...search here on the TT for a massive "Qinghai" thread.

3

Hi Tony

northern Sichuan... wow what a trip.

We travelled throughout the area and had a wonderful time. Travel to Manigango, which is a one horse town, but great characters. You can walk around the hills a bit here and see some remote monistaries, and meet some local. We travelled from Manigango to Dege, which definately worth the journey. There is a great blog written last year some time detailing this route...

We had an adventious time travelling through this region... make sure you have plenty of time, as travel can be slow. Also carry cash, as ATMs are not common. We had a few issues with money (due to noone able to exchance US dollars, and no ATM's).

Enjoy

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Chengdu is enjoyable, but, true, it's all "progress". I missed Emei Shan but heard it's great.