Chengdu city is the provincial capital of the Sichuan Province and has a history of over 3000 years. You will be met at Chengdu Airport and transferred to your hotel. If time permits, there may be an option of some birding in the local parks. We will meet for a welcome dinner and have an introduction to the tour.

Accommodation: Hotel in Chengdu (en suite rooms).

Meals: D.

This morning we will drive to Chengdu Botanical Gardens to search for some local birds such as Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Chinese Bulbul, White-browed Laughingthrush, Red-billed Leiothrix, Japanese White-eye, Chinese Blackbird, Chinese Grosbeak, Collared Finchbill, Long-tailed Shrike, Fork-tailed Sunbird and Hoopoe. We will then drive to Tangjiahe (drive time around 4 hours), with birding and rest stops en-route. After passing through the entrance of the nature reserve, we will have some stops to search for birds and wildlife on the way to our hotel.

Accommodation: Hotel in Tangjiahe (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

Tangjiahe is one of the best places to search for mammals and birds in China. It is also the site of one of the oldest known planted Ginkgo biloba trees which is believed to be 1,400 years old. We will explore this site from morning to dusk so that we also have a chance to see some crepuscular species including the fascinating and spectacularly beautiful Golden Pheasant. Other interesting bird species we can expect to see are Brown Dipper, Spectacled Fulvetta, Sooty Bushtit, Crested Kingfisher, Blue Rock Thrush, White-collared Yuhina, Slaty Bunting, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Sulphur-breasted Warbler and Chestnut-crowned Warbler. Mammal watching is also very productive here, with Takin, Tibetan Macaque, the elusive Yellow-throated Marten, Reeves’ Muntjac all good possibilities. Chinese Goral are usually spotted on the steep cliff. Chinese Serow, Tufted Deer and Asian Black Bear are more elusive and trickier to track down. We will also search for some of the special plants in the area, including the orchids Pleione bulbocodioides and Changnienia amoena, Cercis glabra, Ischnogyne mandarinorum and various species of rhododendron.

Accommodation: Hotel in Tangjiahe (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

We will spend the whole morning birding in the Tangjiah and after lunch we will then drive about 2 hours to visit the Bao’en temple in Pingwu. This is a well-preserved fifteenth century Buddhist Monastery which was built in the Ming Dynasty between 1440-1446. The temple was built as a mini replica of the Forbidden City 519 years ago, then disguised as a temple by the local chieftain to escape punishment by Chinese Emperor Yingzong. It is one of the best-protected Ming style structures in China. We transfer to Shuijing in the late afternoon.

Accommodation: Hotel in Shuijing (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

We will spend the morning enjoying and photographing the golden snub-nosed monkey, which is endemic to a small area in temperate, mountainous forests of central and Southwest China. In the afternoon, we will drive to Chuanzhusi but we will have some birding stops along the way looking for birds like Collared Crow, Przevalski’s (White-cheeked) Nuthatch, Maroon-backed Accentor, Grey-crested Tit, and Rufous-vented Tit.

Accommodation: Hotel in Chuanzhusi (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

Today we will leave in the dark to travel to Gonggangling to search for the endemic and rare Sichuan Wood Owl (Pere David's Owl) as well as the elusive Chinese Grouse and other forest species like Three-banded Rosefinch, Crested Tit-warbler, Przevalski’s Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Chinese Rubythroat, etc. We can also see some interesting floras like Fritillaria unibracteata and different kinds of Primulas and Rhododendrons. After searching the Gongganglin area we will drive on to the Ruoergai Grassland which is known as the ‘lungs of Sichuan’. On the plateau, we can expect to see some grassland species like Himalayan Griffon, Upland Buzzard, Black Kite, Common Kestrel, Amur Falcon, Daurian Jackdaw, Horned Lark, Azure-winged Magpie, Oriental Skylark, Carrion Crow, Grey-backed Shrike, Rock Sparrow, Siberian Stonechat and Citrine Wagtail. We will also be looking for plateau mammals such as the adorable Plateau Pika which are often seen feeding near their burrows together with Himalayan Marmot, which lay flat on the ground when it is feeding. We will also be searching for some of the more elusive mammals like Tibetan Fox, Grey Wolf and Hog Badger in this area.

Accommodation: Hotel in Ruoergai (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

We will spend the day searching for birds in different habitats in this area. The morning will be spent in the mountains with virgin forests at the edge of the plateau which provide good habitat for forest birds such as the rare Chinese Grouse, Blue Eared Pheasant, the elusive Black Woodpecker, Przevalski’s Nuthatch, Plain (Pere David's) Laughingthrush, Elliot's Laughingthrush, Snowy-cheeked (Sukatschev's) Laughingthrush, Sichuan Tit, White-browed Tit Warbler, Crested Tit-Warbler, Dusky Warbler and Slaty-backed Flycatcher. In the afternoon, we will visit Flower Lake where we aim for good views of the elegant Black-necked Crane. We will slowly walk on the boardwalk searching for waterfowl and grassland birds including Bar-headed Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Horned Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Tufted Duck, Northern Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Ferruginous Duck, Gadwall, Eurasian Teal, Brown-cheeked Rail, Lesser Sand Plover, Citrine Wagtail, Oriental Skylark, Little Ringed Plover, White-rumped Snowfinch, Rufous-necked Snowfinch, Tibetan Lark, Horned Lark, Lammergeier (Bearded Vulture), Himalayan Vulture, Upland Buzzard and Common Kestrel. Some difficult species like Whooper Swan and Eurasian Bittern are also occasionally seen here. It is also very pleasant to see all the colourful flowers blooming on the plateau. The most-common genera here are Pedicularis, Aster, Astragalus, Gentiana, and Primula, and we will also take some time to look at these. As Ruoergai is the core area of Anduo Tibetan, we will enjoy an immersive experience of Tibetan culture. We will encounter local people dressed up in their beautiful costumes and try their food.

Accommodation: Hotel in Ruoergai (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

This morning, we will have chance to try for some key species we may still need to find before driving to Maerkang, the prefectural capital of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture which is sometimes also known as Barkam. Total travel time is around 6.5 hours, but we will have several stops along the way looking for Black-necked Crane, Pink-tailed Rosefinch (Przevalski's Pinktail), White-browed Tit, Robin Accentor and Tibetan Partridge.

Accommodation: Hotel in Maerkang (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

Standing between Xiaojin County and Maerkang, Mengbi Mountain is another important birding site that we visit in this trip. Significant differences in elevation, along with well-protected virgin forest, abundant flowers and few people has made this site a paradise for birds, including the endemic Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge (Verreaux’s Partridge) and the rare Sichuan Jay. In the early morning, we will drive to the top of the mountain, standing at 3,900 meters, and either walk or drive slowly down the mountain to search for birds. We will spend the whole day birding in different elevations on the mountain looking for the endemic targets and other fascinating birds like Blood Pheasant, Crested Tit Warbler, Chinese Fulvetta, the range-limited Crimson-browed Finch, Three-banded Rosefinch, Przevalski’s Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Rufous-vented Tit, Grey Crested Tit, Hodgson’s Treecreeper, White-winged Grosbeak, Spotted Nutcracker, Grey-headed Bullfinch and Red Crossbill. Mengbi Mountain also has some great flora including several species of Primula (Primula sikkimensis, P. deflexa, P. palmata), Corydalis pseudobarbisepala, Lilium duchartrei, Sinopodophyllum hexandrum and Boschniakia himalaica. We will drive to Rilong in the late afternoon.

Accommodation: Hotel in Rilong (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

We will spend two days birding in the most fascinating birding site in China –Balang Mountain, which is the first high mountain standing between the Sichuan Basin and the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau. It serves as a demarcation line ethnically and, due to the change in topography, has rich flora and fauna resources. So besides seeing different birds here, we can also see lots of alpine flowering plants, including about 4 kinds of Meconopsis, and a great variety of Primula, Pedicularis, Corydalis plants, as well as Cypripedium tibeticum. Our search for alpine birds starts after we cross the mighty Balangshan Pass where will spend time around the summit which, at just over 4,500 meters, is the highest point we’ll reach on the entire tour. Here we will search for scurrying Snow Partridge, Tibetan Snowcock, Blood Pheasant and Grandala. Other high-altitude specialties also include Lammergeier (Bearded Vulture), Red and Yellow-billed Chough, Alpine Accentor, Brandt’s Mountain Finch and Red-fronted Rosefinch. We will also spend some time at the lower elevations, searching for birds including the endemic Chinese Monal, White-eared Pheasant, and Firethroat, Chinese Rubythroat, Streaked Rosefinch, Dark-breasted Rosefinch, Crimson-browed Finch, Common Rosefinch and Kessler's Thrush (White-backed Thrush).

Accommodation: Hotel close to Balang Mountain (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

This morning we will travel to the Wolong Giant Panda Base to enjoy panda at different ages and learn more about the adorable creatures and their conservation from a local researcher. After spending some time with these amazing animals and looking for some low elevation bird species, we will continue to Longcanggou.

Accommodation: Hotel in Longcanggou (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

We will spend the morning birding around Longcanggou at low elevation looking for Gold-fronted Fulvetta, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Golden Parrotbill, White-backed Woodpecker and Darjeeling Woodpecker. After lunch, we will drive to Wawu Mountain, famous for its unique flat top and rich biodiversity. Wawu Mountain is in the core area of the transition zone between the Sichuan Basin and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The high mountains block the moisture-rich fogs from drifting further onto the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The accumulation of the fog eventually turns into rich rainfall, nurturing the lush vegetation and the dense subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest here and making it home to a lot of range-restricted and endemic species. We will take a cable car to our accommodation and begin birding right after that. Wawu Mountain is so far the best place to search for the Red Panda in the wild. We will spend two days here searching for the highlight species including the Temminck’s Tragopan, Emei Shan Liocichla, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Grey-hooded Fulvetta, Grey-hooded Parrotbill, Golden Parrotbill, Fulvous Parrotbill, Great Parrotbill, Three-toed Parrotbill, Ashy-throated Parrotbill, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Dark-rumped Rosefinch, Golden Bush Robin, White-browed Bush Robin, Three-toed Woodpecker, Sichuan Treecreeper, Red-winged Laughingthrush, Black-faced Laughingthrush, Elliot’s Laughingthrush, Hwamei, Indian Blue Robin, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Red Crossbill, Slaty Bunting, Yellowish-bellied Bush Warbler, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, Aberrant Bush Warbler and Emei leaf warbler.

Accommodation: Hotel close to Wawu Mountain (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

Today we will continue our exploration in Wawu Mountain then drive back to Guanghan in the late afternoon.

Accommodation: Hotel in Guanghan (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

We will begin the day exploring the enigmatic Sanxingdui archaeological site, marveling at its astonishing bronze artifacts and golden masks that reveal the ancient Shu civilization. We will then journey south to the Zigong Dinosaur Museum in the afternoon, coming face-to-face with one of the world's premier collections of Jurassic-era dinosaur fossils and skeletons. After this fascinating journey through deep time – from ancient bronzes to prehistoric giants – we return to Chengdu. We will have a final dinner to reflect on our wonderful trip.

Accommodation: Hotel near Tianfu Airport (en suite rooms).

Meals: B,L,D.

We will depart today from Tianfu Airport.

Accommodation: None.

Meals: B.