Hailuogou is the only "Glacier Forest Park" in China and is known as the "King of Shu Mountains"

⭐Hailuogou 📍Located in the southeastern part of Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, on the eastern slope of Mount Gongga, it is an extremely high mountain area on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. 🏔It is the lowest altitude, closest to major cities, and most accessible low-altitude modern maritime glacier in East Asia, forming a comprehensive tourist scenic area with intact primitive forests and alpine boiling, hot, warm, and cold springs. ❄The Hailuogou Glacier, also known as Glacier No. 1, is 14.7 kilometers long and is the longest of the 71 glaciers on Mount Gongga❗️ ❄The Great Icefall, 500–1100 meters wide and 1080 meters high, is the tallest and most spectacular glacier waterfall discovered in China to date❗️ ❄The glacier tongue extends 6 kilometers into the primitive forest, creating a rare landscape where glacier and forest coexist❗️ ♨As is well known, Hailuogou’s hot springs are authentic natural sulfur springs. For those wanting to soak in hot springs, Hailuogou is definitely the right choice! 1. From Chengdu to Moxi Ancient Town takes about 4.5 hours (Tuzi Travel: round-trip ticket 130 RMB/person, usually pick-up at Xin Nanmen or Chengdu East Bus Station, return tickets available on Intercity Travel, driver will pick you up) Travel time is for reference only. 2. Moxi Ancient Town is currently in the off-season with few tourists. It has three streets, including Mao Zedong’s former residence, the Moxi Red Army Long March Exhibition Hall, and the Catholic Church on Moxi Ancient Street (keep going down, there are signs). The town is still under reconstruction due to a previous earthquake, so there are not many shops. 3. Entering the valley: first go to the Visitor Center to take a shuttle bus, which takes about an hour to reach Camp No. 4. Recommended route: Camp No. 4 — round-trip cable car to Ganheba — Camp No. 3 — Dongga Temple — Caohaizi — Visitor Center. 4. Camp No. 4: Take the cable car to see the glacier. Hailuogou has three major glaciers: the largest is Glacier No. 1, which is the Great Icefall. Arrive early to see the golden sunlight on the mountain without fog, and the Wolf Totem (a wolf-shaped natural erosion formation between Glacier No. 1 and No. 2). Mount Gongga is sacred to Tibetans, so there are also a white stupa and Four-Faced Buddha. The cable car descends to Ganheba. Ganheba: Be sure to hike here; the snowy scenery is beautiful, with high and low altitude plank roads (I took the low altitude from p5-7). Note ⚠️ there are macaques here! (They look hungry, eating garbage, and even snatched trash picked up by children, which was hilarious). Hike to Camp No. 3. Camp No. 3: You can take a sightseeing car to Dongga Temple or pay 30 RMB to take the pink electric car to see the glacier tongue (Chengmen Cave) p9; Dongga Temple: p10 Choose to hike to Caohaizi, Caohaizi: On the way, you will pass through a primitive forest with few people and beautiful scenery. If lucky, you might see wild animals. I only saw pheasant footprints and a woodpecker. After reaching Caohaizi, you can take the shuttle bus back to the Visitor Center. The bus runs every half hour. 5. Fees: Entrance ticket 158 RMB/person, cable car 135 RMB/person. Second entry to the valley costs 40 RMB with ID (includes 10 RMB entrance ticket, 20 RMB round-trip sightseeing car ticket, and 10 RMB round-trip cable car ticket covering production and insurance fees). 6. The Visitor Center opens at 8 AM, and staff are on duty at each station p16. If you don’t want to hike and prefer to take the shuttle bus, wait at the station and ask the staff about the vehicle schedule.