If you know Sichuan, you’ll know Chengdu, but do you know Aba? We have a university college position open in this location each year so let’s find out.    Away from the hustle and bustle of the huge modern cities and urban concrete jungles, in northwestern Sichuan, lies Aba (Ngawa) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture – a beautiful place for those searching for awe-inspiring natural landscapes and more unique elements of Chinese culture.    Located on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, Aba is next to Qinghai and Gansu Province in the north, adjacent to Chengdu, Mianyan and Deyang in the southeast, and bordering Ya’an in the south and Garze in the west. With an average altitude of 3,000 meters, Aba covers an vast area of 84,242 square meters (an astonishing 32,526 square miles), consisting of vast grasslands, towering snow mountains, patterns of crisscrossing flowing rivers that make up its natural scenery. With an ecosystem of rare animals and plants not found in other parts of the world e.g. the giant pandas and dove trees, Aba is recognized by world tourism experts as one of the best ecotourism destinations in the world.    With 12 counties and a population of 946,000, Aba’s people comprises mostly as it’s full name suggests, of Tibetan and Qiang ethnic Chinese. Of course there are also Han Chinese and other ethnic minorities but Aba is a place to go to get a fascinating glimpse of Tibetan and Qiang ethnic customs and culture seldom seen in urban China, attracting tourists from all over the country and around the world.    …   Let’s go through some of the best-known attractions in Aba   1.Jiuzhaigou九寨沟 One of the gems of China and star attraction of Aba is the Jiuzhaigou Valley National Park. One of Aba’s many UNESCO World Hertiage sites and a wonderland of magnificent dereamlike natural scenery unmatched on Earth. It was named after the nine Tibetan villages in the valley and is located in the northwestern part of Jiuzhaigou county of Aba. The scenic area covers 72,000 hectares and reaches up to height of more than 4,800 meters. All tourists who have visited the valley have fallen under the spell of its captivating views and breathtaking landscapes, splendid waterfalls, crystal clear blue lakes and alpine valleys, and have been charmed by the Tibetan and Qiang folk customs. Not too far away is another UNESCO World Heritage site in the Huanglong Scenic and Historical Area in Songpan County, just 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Jiuzhaigou. It’s another popular tourist site known for its layered travertine pools of calcium deposits, colourful lakes, snow-capped peaks and diverse forests. The two make a great double header of travelling in Aba.   2. Mount Siguniang四姑娘山 The second highest peak in Western China belongs to Mount Siguniang and on a clear day, you can see the backdrop of the great mountains as far as Chengdu from an elevated view. Although its majestic presence looms over the city, it is still 220 kilometers (136 miles) from Chengdu and takes about 5-6 hours to reach by bus. The mountain is located on the border of Xiaojin County and Wenchuan County in Aba, and is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the largest scenic area in Aba featuring one mountain – Mount Siguniang and three valleys - Two-Bridge (Shuangqiao) Valley, Long-Peace (Changping) Valley, and Alpine-Lake (Haizi) Valley. The name of the mountain literally translates as the ‘Four Sisters/Maidens’ Mountains because of its four peaks and as according to Tibetan legend the four peaks are the embodiment of four pretty girls. The highest peak, Yaomei Feng, known as the ‘Queen of Sichuan’s peaks” is a massive 6250 metres tall. However tourists will usually trek to the top of Dafeng, the oldest peak of the four sisters, where spectacular views await at the summit. This is a must-visit place for mountain climbing enthusiasts or for those who want to hike in the wonderful valleys with the mountain in view.  3. Bipenggou毕棚沟 In the shadow of Mount Siguniang is the equally beautiful Bipenggou Ecological Scenic area of Putou Township in Li County, Aba. Also known as Bipenggou Valley National Park, the area is also formed with stunning alpine views of forests, lakes, glaciers, waterfalls and snow-capped mountains providing a feast for your eyes. Some of the notable attractions in the area include Longwang Lake, Bailong Waterfall, Panyang Lake and Hongshi Beach. There’s plenty to see and do all year round, whether you want to hike through the incredible landscapes or ski at the ski resort in the winter. However the most attractive time to go is said to be autumn when forests are tinged with the golden yellow red and orange hues of the season. A hike from Changping Valley of Mount Siguniang National Park to Bipenggou Valley is considered one of the top ten classic hiking trails in all of China.    4. Dagu Glacier达古冰川 Located in Heishui County by the Heishui River of Aba, northwestern Sichuan Province, is the Dagu Glacier Scenic Area. If you’re a fan of snowscapes then this is the place for you as you’ll get to see beautiful glaciers formed millions of years ago surrounded by the Dagu snow mountains in the backdrop. The most visisted and most spectacular glaciers are no.1, 2 and 3, these are also the youngest glaciers and ones at the lowest altitude (3800-5100 meters above sea level) that are closest to the city for a visit (300 km from Chengdu). The breathtaking natural environment has been undisturbed for millenia until its first discovery in 1992, on the way there you can see the beauty of picturesque waterfalls, lakes, forests and meadows, making stops at Jinhou Lake, Fangsheng Lake, Dagu Lake, Lingyun Waterfall, Hongshipo Slope etc. Once there you can take the highest cableway in the world to the elevation platform of Dagu Mountain to witness the amazing views at the top.    5. Ruoergai Grassland若尔盖大草原 Known as the “oasis of the Northwest Sichuan Plateau”, the Ruoergai Grassland is one of the largest grasslands in China with one of the major wetlands in the country. Spreading across four different counties in Aba, Ruoergai covers a huge amount of land territory. It is the home of the Tibetan Zang people who you’ll see live on stock farming. Full of beautiful meadows that blossom in the spring and summer months, the area is famous for its Flower Lake where you can see flowers blooming in the lake, hence its name. It’s also the place where the famed Yellow River begins, here you can see it take its first bend, and the sight is one to behold when the sunset glistens off the flowing current.    …   How to get to Aba?    *Aba has two airports: Aba Hongyuan Airport which is 48 kilometers from Hongyuan County. There is no airport shuttle bus, so taxi is best the choice of transport from and to the airport. There are direct flights from and to Chengdu, Wenzhou and Lhasa;  The other airport is Jiuhuang (Jiuzhaigou-Haunglong) Airport which is 12 kilometers (7 miles) north of Chuanzhusi Town, Songpan County. This airport is 88 kilometers from the Jiuzhaigou scenic area. There are only direct flights from Chengdu.  *If you want to see the natural beauty on the way, then a good option would be taking a bus. Chengdu operates two bus lines to Jiuzhaigou, Barkam, Zoige, Songpan, Zamtang and Mount Siguniang.  *Or you can hire a private driver to take you around.    Lastly travelling to Aba is wildly different to being in one of China’s urban cities and you’ll be travelling through lots of mountainous terrain so please do be careful and make sure you do your research before setting off. 

Chengdu is the newest tier one city in China, with a population of more than 21 million. Living and working in this this massive metropolis of a city was made all the more convenient by its remarkable rapid transit system, making the city easy to travel, commute and navigate. We are of course talking about the Chengdu Metro which serves an estimated 8 million trips per day. There’s literally a metro station every 15/20 minutes away that can take you to some of the hottest tourist attractions in Chengdu. Let’s find out more!    The Chengdu metro is relatively new with the first line opening in 2010 and now it has more than 12 lines in operation with a total length of more than 500km, making it the fourth longest metro system in the world, and there is more expansion to come. Each station feels modern and clean using state of the art technology, with excellent designs that fuse traditional and modern China. Speaking of technology, you cannot skip line 9, the first fully automated and unmanned metro line in western China. It’s worth going to the front so you can see through the window into the underground.    Each metro line has its own designated colour. Line 1 is dark blue, line 2 is orange, line 3 is magenta, line 4 is green, line 5 is purple, line 6 is brown, line 7 is sky blue, line 8 is chartreuse, line 9 is earth yellow and so on. The cool part about Chengdu’s metro is each station has its own unique design and style, sometimes combining ancient Chinese elements, creating a different feel and experience each time.    My personal favourite station is Jinsha Site Museum station of line 7, named after the world-famed museum it is close too. I like it not because of its convenience to the museum but also because the station uses murals to recreate various life scenes of ancient Shu people, including casting, poettery and jade making. This station is of course specifically deisnged for the Jinsha site and also features themes of sun birds and green jade pillars. As soon as you step off the metro you’ll feel the vivid world of ancient Shu culture.    What’s more the Chengdu metro is very easy to use and very convenient for tourists and foreigners with bilingual signs featuring English along with Chinese. And if you need assistance there’s always staff in the kiosk or I’m sure a local Chinese will be willing to help. You can find ticketing machines easily in each station and they come with an English option too. You just choose your destination and the machine will calculate the cost, then you can pay by cash or via mobile payment e.g. WeChat or Alipay. The price starts from 2 RMB and will increase according to the distance you travel.    If you’re here for the long-term I’d recommend getting Tianfu Tong Travel Card and then you can top up your card once a month to use on the metro just to save time. Usually these are available from the kiosks of major metro stations or at the airport. After staying in the city for a while, you will start to notice that most people don’t use a physical ticket or card, they just use their phone to pay for the ticket, via scanning the QR code on your phone. This is a little more advanced, to do this, you will need to download the app called Tianfutong or your can access the transport section of Alipay if you have it, this way you can get some discounts on your travel costs.    We hope this has given you a rough idea of Chengdu’s amazing metro system and we look forward to welcoming you to explore Chengdu via its metro. If you do have any questions related to this topic or on teaching English in China, please drop us an email at [email protected]