Xiangcheng!

The changing scenery on the way from Litang to Xiangcheng!





Xiangcheng was the true surprise of the trip! Located cosily in a low valley it was nice, warm, quiet, beautiful & tourist-less! It`s recommended as a sleepover place to move on to Shangrila in Yunnan province, but we had arrived there early in the afternoon, so we had enough time to actually see the town & start liking it a lot!

Some houses of Xiangcheng..





Our (already drunk) guesthouse owner inivted us for a bottle of wine and we shared some culture.


Highly enjoyable stopover :)!!!
Next on to Shangrila...

Tasting Sichuan, feeling Tibet (Chengdu-Danba-Tagong-Litang-Xiangcheng-Shangrila)

Oct 02 Rizhao - Qingdao - Chengdu
Oct 03 Chengdu
Oct 04 Chengdu
Oct 05 Chengdu -> Danba (334 km = 11h) (altitude 1800 m)
Oct 06 Danba (altitude 1800 m)
Oct 07 Danba -> Tagong (111 km = 3 h) (altitude 3700 m)
Oct 08 Tagong (altitude 3700 m)
Oct 09 Tagong -> Litang (altitude 4014 m)
(238 km = 12h: minibus changes,waiting & road under (de)construction)
Oct 10 Litang (altitude 4014 m)
Oct 11 Litang -> Xiangcheng (205 km = 4 h) (altitude 4718m on the way)
Oct 12 Xiangcheng -> Shangrila (220 km = 8 h) (altitude 3200 m)
Oct 13 Shangrila (altitude 3200 m)
Oct 14 Shangrila – Kunming – Nanjing - Qingdao - Rizhao

Trip Route ~ 1100 km


View Sichuan trip in a larger map

Statistics:

1) Average of 274 RMB (~27 EUR) spent per day (based on 1 person in a 3 ppl group including accommodation, food, local transportation, activities, etc)
Cheapest day - 150 RMB (15 EUR)- in Lithang
Most expensive day - 360 RMB (36 EUR) - in Shangrila

2) Total spent on accommodation: 650 RMB (65 EUR) (1 person)

3) Total spent on local transportation: 700 RMB (70 EUR) (1 person)

4) Total of hours spent on a bus ~ 40 h

5) Weather forecast: fantastic - blue sky, sunny, white clouds



And now time for the first set of Postcards from the trip :)


CHENGDU (feels like summer) - tea, spices, pandas..

Panda babies :)




DANBA (feels like early autumn)- first taste of Tibet in cool villages..

Suopo village towers


Our Tibetan family in Zhonglu village for 1 night :)





TAGONG (feels like autumn)- horses & grasslands & my very own Shangrila of the trip :)

Fell in love with horse trekking - first time for me to do the horse trekking!


Breathtaking views!!!





LITANG (feels like winter by night & spring by day) - one of the highest cities in the world at 4014 m..

Litang monastery@sunset time!




XIANGCHENG (feels like summer)- surprise of the trip :)

Beautiful & relaxed small town that is told to be just a stopover on the way to Shangrila, but turned out to be a true surprise of the trip!!!




SHANGRI-LA-NOT! (feels like autumn)

True "tourist trap" compared to the other tourist-less places experienced during the trip...autumn scenery was nice though :)



And all the way during the trip it was crazy mountain dirt road disco (shaking like never before!) and roads under (de)consturction, but...the views on the way were totally worth every shake!!! ;)









Just the first taste of the trip...more to come, so stay tuned ;)