Riley's 1 Day Mount Qingcheng Hiking Trip in Dujiangyan

People easily get irritated in summer, I deadly want to get away from the city and the “summer vibe”. However, what embarrassing is I have a tight budget and I only have 1 day. Where can I go to get myself one cool and serenely day with my empty purse? Back Mountain of Mount Qingcheng comes out the first second I got the idea of my “get away” trip. It’s only 2 hours ride away (20 minutes by high-speed train) from my apartment in Chengdu downtown, only charges RMB20 as entrance fee. The temperature of Mount Qingcheng town is always 3-4℃ lower than Chengdu downtown, even cooler on the mountain.

My Day Tour Itinerary of Mount Qingcheng Hiking from Chengdu

One Saturday morning, I woke up early and thought, no plans for today anyway, why not go to Mount Qingcheng in Dujiangyan? It’s just a day tour, I don’t even need to pack anything, a pair of hiker shoes is all I need. I booked myself a train tickets online, grabbed a bottle of water, then I was all set.

Useful Link: Chengdu to Mount Qingcheng High Speed Train Schedules

High Speed Train to Dujiangyan from Xipu Railway Station

I took a taxi to the train station, hopped on the train, then 20 minutes later, I was in Mountain Qingcheng town. There are lots of mini vans running by locals, charge 10 yuan to transfer travelers from Qingcheng Train Station to the mountain foot. I hopped a car randomly, waited for few minutes till the car was full. 10 minutes later, the driver dropped all the passengers off to the Tai'an Ancient Town where more like a street than a town.

Tai'an Ancient Town in the Back Mountain of Mount Qingcheng

Main Street Lined with Shops and Restaurants

People say Sichuanese are foodies. For real, traveling in Sichuan, you’ll never short of snacks, ancient towns like Tai’an always full of kinds of special snacks. There were shops and vendors all along the street. Discover more famous Sichuan dishes and snacks >>

Various Kinds of Local Food & Snacks

People say Szechuanese know how to life, they can always find out ways to make themselves more comfortable. Below picture is can strongly prove this point!

Unique Summer Leisure of Local People

Got through the Ancient street, you could see the ticket office where the hiking literally began.

Ticket Office and Entrance for Back Mountain Hiking

I started to climb the mountain from the left side, for it was more beautiful. This was my 3rd time there, I knew this place quite well. Starting from the ticket office, it’d take me 3 hours up to the top, then 2 hours down. To catch the 7pm train back, I had to get the climb started before 12:00 noon. If you want to save some time and energy, there is a cable car to take. I am a good hiker and travel in tight budget, I definitely would conquer the mountain by my foot!

The temperature cooled down the minute I stepped into the mountain path. The fresh and cool breeze blew my face and hear, took away my all my pressure. I spent a few minutes siting on the bench beside the path, took a deep breath, enjoyed the gentle breeze with pleasant scents from deep mountain.

Wooden Hiking Path surrounded by Green Cool Scenery

There was no gorgeous or breath taking scenery, but there were gurgling little waterfalls all along the way, nice and fresh air, pleasant breeze, birds singing behind you and so forth, all of them formed a relaxing atmosphere. Some parts of the plank road are steep, but the overall hiking intensity is ok for most of travelers. There was this beautiful lake in the middle of the mountain where is one of my favorite places.

A Beautiful and Peaceful Lake in the Middle of the Back Mountain

Sitting on the wooden boat, I was like traveling back to ancient China!

Without any rush, stop-and-go, I finally reached the mountain top. Not much to see on the top except a small temple. So I started to get down from the other side of the mountain after a short break. The Buddha carved in stones are the highlights of the way down.

The way down was pretty easy, didn’t take much time until I saw the village at the mountain foot. All the way down, I can feel the pretty fresh and moist air and listen to chirping birds, what a relaxing and easy “get away day”!

This kind of short trip just like a pause button of my life, I can stop for a while, recharging myself, thinking of something, understanding what kind of life I am seeking. Then I back to my life with 100% energy and passion.