Chengdu Travel Guide - Real country walks - just an hour outside Chengdu

Chengdu Travel - Chengdu is a bustling city of 11 million that is ever spreading in every direction! But for those who hanker after a little solitude and a lung full or two of fresh-air, it is possible to escape the crowd and find some nice walks on pathways that don't contain the slightest trace of concrete or tarmac - just an hour or so's drive outside Chengdu in the Qingcheng mountains that lie close to the town of Dujiangyan. However you need to know where to look - because there are a lot of mountain out here - and the main tourist sites are both expensive, crowded and all the paths are concrete walkways - while in other parts you'll hardly see soul as you hike on farmer paths that weave up the mountain from field to field. Last Sunday we decided to take one of those nice quiet country walks .
The secret to finding these places is to find a slightly bigger track that used by motorbikes and trikes - and then.........


follow it until it turns into a path. On the Qingcheng Mountain these paths are used to connect farmhouses and fields, and to allow goat-herders to get to graze their animals at the tops of the mountains.


The paths - which are quite easy to follow - go up, and the fields are often run close to patches of woodland making for a very pretty scene.



..... and the idea is to climb a little more until.....


you're past the field line and up in the woodland at the top of the ridges - there are still paths up here.


Our Walk last Sunday got us up to this forested area - it makes a good campsite in the summer.


Although too cold for camping, there's still a lot of stuff to photograph. This seed head - is really fascinating when viewed so close


Looking down it's a bit hazy - but the view isn't that bad!


Here we can see an example of the strange kind of weather we often get in the Sichuan. Looking down towards the flat Sichuan-basin and Chengdu - we have a foggy haze - while here around 2,000m we can see the blue sky. In those areas of Sichuan that lie above 3,000m a sunny winters day - down around Chengdu its a little more gray!


Here are some locals working up near the top collecting bamboos to make into brooms. That's heavy - I know, I helped load the old guy up


Mao caps are still the fashion up here with the older generation - and those pipes that have a simple rolled up tobacco leaf stuffed into them - are also popular. All the people on this part of the mountain know us - after all I'm just about the only foreigner they get to see. They are also very friendly always taking the time to talk to us - and inviting us into their houses. These are very nice folk.


Other stuff you can find around here are small shrines - in this one the baby has lost its head!


Any good Sunday walk should be topped off with a good Sunday dinner - this is in a country restaurant - hardcore Sichuan food. Bacon and beans in a sweet sauce, Beef tripe in pepper sauce, cold pickled veggies and tofu, Chinese carrot in soup, sauce dips for the carrot and a portion of soft-white tofu (which arrived latter) and my favourite - home made herbal rice-wine (pretttttty Strong stuff).
If the walk doesn't knock you out - the food will!!!!