China: Sichuan Heritage by Bicycle

Home to the iconic Panda, China's Sichuan province offers sumptuous cuisine and treasured regional culture. But go deeper into this ancient land, and you'll find legends of sacred mountains and rivers, interwoven with the ancient lore of China's cultivation culture. Let these secrets come to light as you cycle through wild countryside and get a feel for the real Sichuan.

This action-packed tour of Chengdu starts off with the first highlight - the Dujiangyan Panda Valley. The famous Panda centre offers refuge and doting for these magnificent, rare animals with rearing and breeding programmes. These giant pandas are the symbol of China, and the research centre provides education and raises awareness of the plight of these great creatures and their environment.

Our tour then moves on to discover the history of two ancient towns. Then it’s on to Mengding Mountain, famous for its tea culture where we take a walk in the Mengdingshan Royal Tea Gardens: a delight with its atmospheric pavilions and walking paths. China’s tea growing history can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty over 2,000 years ago. Reputed to be the birthplace of Chinese tea cultivation, tea trees planted at Mengding by a herdsman are believed to be the very beginning of China's tea history.

We next visit UNESCO Heritage listed Mount Emei, one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China and traditionally regarded as a place of enlightenment. The unsurpassed views are one of the great spectacles of Mount Emei and is yet another high point of the tour in all senses of the word! The ride then follows the river to the town of many temples, Leshan. Our last day of the tour takes us on a walk through bamboo forests and to Huang Long Xi, a picturesque town where many Chinese movies have been filmed.