Best of Chengdu & Stunning Jiuzhaigou

With abundant striking cultural attractions and fascinating natural landscape, Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou are considered to be the paradise not only for fans of photography but also for every nature lover from the world. The opening of direct flight between Amsterdam and Chengdu provides convenient traffic condition for tourists from Netherlands to explore this fairyland. The only non-stop flight KL891 is operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, departing from Amsterdam at 21:10 and landing in Chengdu at 12:45 the next day after around 9.5 hours' flying. The flight is available on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. If you travel on the other days, you can connect a flight either through a Chinese city like Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen or in cities of Western Europe such as Frankfurt, Paris, London before heading to Chengdu.

Your exciting China tour from Netherlands begins when you touch down at Chengdu Airport. After clearing customs and retrieving your luggage, you will be met by your private guide in the arrival hall. Transfer to downtown and check in to your hotel with the assistance of our guide. The reminder of the day is left for you to have a good rest in preparation for a full day's sightseeing tomorrow.

Meals: No meals, advice freely available
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Chengdu Oriental Plaza

The first stop of your Chengdu tour from Amsterdam is Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. We will get there earlier to catch a glimpse of the pandas when they are most active at feeding time. The site has those cute pandas in very large open air enclosures that allow them to wander around. You can get amazing photos of different scenes, such as pandas munching bamboo shoots, chasing, tumbling, and climbing. A good range of lenses to carry for nice close-ups is 200-300mm. Be careful not to shoot with your camera flash since the pandas' eyes are sensitive to light, especially the baby pandas.

Around noon, we will guide you to the Broad and Narrow Alleys where you can search for the traces of history and experience the original local lifestyle. The old streets, buildings with wooden doors, European-style constructions, wide variety of delicious food, as well as the people are all good subjects you can find to shoot nice pictures. Finish off the day's private sightseeing with a visit to Jinsha Site Museum. Since the lighting is low in the exhibition hall, you may increase your camera's ISO to achieve the right amount of depth of field and motion in the image. Afterwards, we will drive you back to the hotel to take a good night's rest.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Chengdu Oriental Plaza

After breakfast, we will take you to the airport for a morning flight bound for Jiuzhaigou. Upon arrival, your local guide and driver will greet you on schedule and escort you to visit the Huanglong Scenic and Historical Interest Area directly to get away from the tourist crowds coming from Jiuzhaigou. Surprise fills the air as you enter the scenic area. The colorful lakes, snow clad mountains, valleys and virgin forest are tremendous examples of natural beauty granted by God. Our guide will focus a bit more on the Huanglong Monastery and the Multi-coloured Pools with hundreds of steps. There are some panorama viewing platforms along the way for photo-taking. Wide angel lens is probably the most used equipment in the process of your landscape photography. Also, make sure you have extra memory cards and spare batteries for your camera. We shall drive to the hotel in Jiuzhaigou before dinner. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: New Jiuzhai Hotel

We begin a full day exploration of Jiuzhaigou Valley scenic area right after breakfast. Having always been a popular and great subject matter, the overwhelming charms of Jiuzhaigou Valley keep camera shutters busy clicking in all seasons. The second half month of October is particularly the best time of year to visit this valley, since you could see red and yellow foliage in stark contrast with the crystal blue and emerald lakes. Everywhere you look, you are assured of seeing a stunning photo opportunity.

We will spend relatively more time in visiting Multi-colored Lake, Nuorilong Fall, Long Lake and Pearl Beach. To get better lighting effects, the optimal time for taking a shot of Nuorilong Fall is from ten to twelve o'clock. You can photograph good images of Long Lake either in the morning or in the afternoon.

Tip: There is only one restaurant in the scenic area offering buffet style meals, the quality and service of which may fall short of expectations. Besides, scores of people wait in the buffet line at lunchtime. You'd better prepare some energy snacks for lunch today. 

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Accommodation: New Jiuzhai Hotel

Bid farewell to magical Jiuzhaigou as your memorable China tour from Holland comes to an end today. Our guide and driver will escort you to the airport and see you off. For people who go to Amsterdam, you can return back to Chengdu and take flight KL892 1430/1855 flying to Amsterdam. Or you may choose to fly from Jiuzhaigou to Beijing first and connect to flight KL898 1055/1510 or China Southern Airlines flight CZ345 0030/0510 to Amsterdam. We wish you a pleasant onward journey!

Meals: Breakfast