British Contact Lens Association Chengdu - Conference Package

Itinerary at a glance

• Day 1: Chengdu (Thurs, 7 March) Arrive Chengdu and transfer to the hotel from the airport.
• Day 2: Chengdu (Fri, 8 March) Full day conference. Option to explore old Chengdu by night.
• Day 3: Chengdu (Sat, 9 March) Full day conference. Option to take part in an evening culinary tour.
• Day 4: Chengdu (Sun, 10 March) Transfer to the airport or take the ‘Wonders of Sichuan’ extension.

‘Wonders of Sichuan’ extension itinerary

• Day 4: Chengdu (Sun, 10 March) Explore Chengdu on a walking tour. Visit the excellent five-storey Chengdu Museum, highly interactive with each floor presenting a different major period of Chinese history and crafts and artifacts from those periods. Visit beautiful People’s Park, Chengdu’s first public space and its largest downtown green space – the park is well named as it’s a fascinating place for people watching, full of locals doing all sorts of interesting things; relaxing with friends and family, playing games like mahjong, jianzi (Chinese hacky sack), badminton, cards, and chess, as well as calligraphy writers, music and food of all kinds. Visit a bonsai garden and tea house and enjoy a cup of tea as the locals do. Continue to Wide and Narrow Alley, a famous historical area dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD) with traditional Sichuan style courtyards.Visit one of Chengdu’s vibrant and popular evening markets and enjoy authentic local food.
• Day 5: Chengdu (Mon, 11 March) Drive up to 2200m to see pandas in the semi-wild at Wolong National Nature Reserve, an area of outstanding natural beauty and the largest breeding centre for giant pandas worldwide. This “Panda Kingdom” is home to about 60 percent of the world’s total panda population and comprises a visiting area for captive pandas, a wild training area and a reintroduction area. Travel along the eastern end of Tibetan plateau and see how the endangered species of giant pandas and other rare animals and plants are protected. Continue along the reserve to magnificent SongPan Ancient Town, an vast site dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD) that was considered the ‘West Portal of Sichuan,’ with very well-preserved city walls and gates and the remains of ancient battlefields and structures within the city. It was a major site along the ancient Tea Horse Road (which was part of the Silk Road) between the Tibetan plateau and the Sichuan basin.Check into the charming traditional courtyard style 56 Courtyards Hotel in the old town. Dinner at the hotel.
• Day 6: Chengdu (Tues, 12 March) Drive to peaceful Chuanzhusi, a town surrounded by beautiful natural scenery at an altitude of 2980 metres, and visit the historic Buddhist temple. Chuanzhusi’s largest ethnic group are Tibetan, who have been living here for centuries and maintain their Tibetan traditions. Drive to Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area, a Natural World Heritage site famous for its beautiful calcification pools, where geological deposits result in vividly coloured ponds, against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains peaks, waterfalls and forests. Drive back to Chengdu and check in to the hotel.
• Day 7: Chengdu (Wed, 13 March) Depart after breakfast.