Travel Information
Sichuan Travel Guide
The Chinese often refer to Sichuan as the Heavenly Kingdom (Tianfu Zhiguo), a reference to the provinces abundance in natural resources and cultural heritage. Its name, Four Rivers, refers to four of the more than 80 mighty rivers spilling across the Chuanxi plain in the east. Sichuan is the largest province in the south-west, with a population displaying as much diversity as its landscape. While the east supports one of the densest rural populaion in the world, the west rises in giant steps to the Tibetan plateau, where green tea becomes butter tea and Confucianism yields to Buddhism. These windswept grasslands and deep forests are home to the Qiang and Tibetans.
Regions
Sichuan can be divided into two major topographical parts, the Sichuan Basin and the Western Sichuan Plateau.
The Sichuan Basin
The Sichuan Basin, also called the Purple Basin or Red Basin, is one of the larger basins in China. Rising 1,000-3,000 meters above sea level, it is enclosed on four sides by the Daliang, Qionglai, Minshan, Daba and Wushan mountains and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
It consists of three parts: the parallel valleylands in the east, the hilly areas in the middle and the Chengdu Plain in the west. Formed by alluvial deposits from the Minjiang and its tributaries, the Chengdu Plain is the largest in southwest China and the major farming area in Sichuan. With a warm climate, fertile soil and the Dujiangyan irrigation system, it is also one of the countrys most affluent regions. The scenic, majestic Emei Mountain on its southwestern fringe is one of the best-known mountains in China.
The Western Sichuan Plateau
The Western Sichuan Plateau, exceeding 3,000 meters in elevation in most parts, consists of numerous canyons ranged vertically side by side and rows upon rows of snow mountains. The northern section of it is part of the main body of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the southern section is the northern stem of the Hengduan Mountains.