This scenic area is located near the town Rilong 日隆乡 (3160m), roughly 6 hours' drive west of Chengdu 成都 (~230Km). Named after the four contiguous peaks of 5672m, 6250m, 5664m, 5700m, the developer of this area tries to branded it as the east Alps.
There're three valleys: 双桥沟 (double bridges), 长坪沟 (long meadow), 海子沟 (lakes). Elevation a little over 3000m. Air is crisply clean. Deep blue sky that you would never see in 成都. The best season should be early-mid summer. We were too late for the flowers.
We spent the first afternoon at 双桥沟 (￥80 + narrated eco bus ￥80). There're five stops. Meadows, icy cold river, high peaks. That night, after dinner, the guide made us attend a silly party, where they served two whole lamb over the open fire. The meat was tough. Three Tibetan girls came, sang and danced, poured us barley wine 青稞酒 and butter tea 酥油茶, and we the tourists participated, also sang and danced and did silly games. It was fun. I laughed so hard that my tummy ached.
The second day was entirely spent in 长坪沟 (￥70 + ￥40 small van). The paved road is fairly short. About 5 minutes into the gate is where you can hire a horse and its owner, or start hiking. My father paid ￥150 for a horse, but almost fell off after an hour or so. He ended up walking back.
The beginning 3Km is a pleasant board walk and ends at a river bend 枯树滩. Forest with open views. Many tiny waterfalls hang on the steep slope on other side of the valley. From this point on only muddy and rocky horse trail, littered with horse poop. I insisted on walking all the way to the end (about 3 hours one way, 9Km?), thus had a piece of solitude (a rare thing in China) most of the time.
The trail ends at a large meadow surrounded by mountains (two glaciers?). There was a large herd of Tibetan bison, and so the countless piles of bison excrement (at least one per m^2). This is at the backside of the 4th Mountain which you can see at the entrance. Along this trail, I encountered two groups of Americans. They were here camping and hiking. Out of about 70-80 Chinese tourists that day, only 3 walked.
The drive is also quite scenic. Valley and trees along Balang Creek 巴朗. Large stretches of meadow cover the slope of Balang Mountain (巴朗 4487m), dotted with Tibetan bisons. These animals live a happy life. The owner comes around only once a month to feed them some salt and occasionally medicine.
On the way home, we stopped at the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve 卧龙级国家级自然保护区. You don't get to see wild pandas here. It's a research center, quite small too. Do check out the nursery: the babies are adorable.
Note, it's possible to come here by bus (~￥40) from Chengdu 成都, direction Xiaojin 小金. All entrance fees are half off for students and seniors. This is not very regulated. Tour guides sometimes negotiate the fees (to pocket the difference), and you get in without the printed tickets.
This scenic area is located near the town Rilong 日隆乡 (3160m), roughly 6 hours' drive west of Chengdu 成都 (~230Km). Named after the four contiguous peaks of 5672m, 6250m, 5664m, 5700m, the developer of this area tries to branded it as the east Alps.
There're three valleys: 双桥沟 (double bridges), 长坪沟 (long meadow), 海子沟 (lakes). Elevation a little over 3000m. Air is crisply clean. Deep blue sky that you would never see in 成都. The best season should be early-mid summer. We were too late for the flowers.
We spent the first afternoon at 双桥沟 (￥80 + narrated eco bus ￥80). There're five stops. Meadows, icy cold river, high peaks. That night, after dinner, the guide made us attend a silly party, where they served two whole lamb over the open fire. The meat was tough. Three Tibetan girls came, sang and danced, poured us barley wine 青稞酒 and butter tea 酥油茶, and we the tourists participated, also sang and danced and did silly games. It was fun. I laughed so hard that my tummy ached.
The second day was entirely spent in 长坪沟 (￥70 + ￥40 small van). The paved road is fairly short. About 5 minutes into the gate is where you can hire a horse and its owner, or start hiking. My father paid ￥150 for a horse, but almost fell off after an hour or so. He ended up walking back. 
The beginning 3Km is a pleasant board walk and ends at a river bend 枯树滩. Forest with open views. Many tiny waterfalls hang on the steep slope on other side of the valley. From this point on only muddy and rocky horse trail, littered with horse poop. I insisted on walking all the way to the end (about 3 hours one way, 9Km?), thus had a piece of solitude (a rare thing in China) most of the time. 
The trail ends at a large meadow surrounded by mountains (two glaciers?). There was a large herd of Tibetan bison, and so the countless piles of bison excrement (at least one per m^2). This is at the backside of the 4th Mountain which you can see at the entrance. Along this trail, I encountered two groups of Americans. They were here camping and hiking. Out of about 70-80 Chinese tourists that day, only 3 walked.
The drive is also quite scenic. Valley and trees along Balang Creek 巴朗. Large stretches of meadow cover the slope of Balang Mountain (巴朗 4487m), dotted with Tibetan bisons. These animals live a happy life. The owner comes around only once a month to feed them some salt and occasionally medicine.
On the way home, we stopped at the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve 卧龙级国家级自然保护区. You don't get to see wild pandas here. It's a research center, quite small too. Do check out the nursery: the babies are adorable. 
Note, it's possible to come here by bus (~￥40) from Chengdu 成都, direction Xiaojin 小金. All entrance fees are half off for students and seniors. This is not very regulated. Tour guides sometimes negotiate the fees (to pocket the difference), and you get in without the printed tickets.
