Monday, 8 June 2026
We landed at wet and rainy Tianfu International Airport at 01:30. I didn’t have to wait long for my bag. It came out slightly wet, no doubt from the rain.
I managed to snag a reclined seat but it was hard and my behind hurt from sitting on it. It was a poor night’s sleep. I got up at 04:40 and performed ablutions and then prayers.
I made my way to the metro station and took the metro to my hotel near Chengdu East Railway Station. I’d earlier booked another hotel in downtown but changed hotels to one near to Chengdu East Railway Station (Chengdu Dong) as I needed to take train to Huanglong Jiuzhai from there for the shared vehicle to Jiuzhaigou National Park.
I came out at the East Square of Chengdu Dong and looked around and saw The Longemont Hotel. My hotel, Rayfont, is just behind it so I made my way over. I was lucky to be able to check in at 07:55 (is this the case in China because I managed an early check-in in Dali, Furong and Ürümqi too?). I had a view of the railway tracks and enjoyed watching trains pulling in and out of the station.
I had a shower, laundered some clothes and had some breakfast before venturing out. I took the metro to Xipu and from there, a train to Dujiangyan. I asked a girl and she said I could buy it from an app. I had to download the train app there and then to buy the train ticket (later I found out that I could’ve bought the ticket on Trip.com but it would’ve cost me almost double due to the booking fee).
The train journey took less than 25 minutes and from there station, I walked across the river to Sunac Mall. I wandered inside the mall before I found Zhongshuge Bookstore and I happily spent thirty minutes in the bookstore taking photos (there were not many English books there).
I did see a tourist info room at the station and some staff handing out leaflets - on Dujiangyan, I believe - and I thought I’d check it out when I returned to the station. Alas, I didn’t find the tourist info room when I got back. So I bought the train ticket back to Xipu and from Xipu, took the metro to Tianfu Square.
After some time at Tianfu Square, I walked to Chunxi Lu. Then I had late lunch/early dinner at a halal kiosk in a mall. Compared to the previous evening’s meal, this felt expensive at ¥26.8. Then I took the metro back to Chengdu East and walked back to the hotel. I then discovered an underground passage linking The Longemont Hotel to Chengdu East Railway Station which I didn’t notice earlier in the morning as I walked along the pavement along the main road.
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
An early start for me today. I left the room and walked to Chengdu Dong and waited for the 06:45 train to Huanglong Jiuzhai station. The train took off on time and arrived on time too at 08:24. I then went in search of the van that would take me to Jiuzhaigou National Park.
We left at about 08:45 and reached the entrance to the Park just before 10:30. The driver told us to assemble there at 17:30. A couple of Singaporean men helped translate for me. I went thinking, whoa, seven hours!
I went through the ticket check and boarded the shuttle bus. I went down at the second stop, Nuorilang stop, and walked to Nuorilang Waterfall. After that, I pondered where to go and after asking a guide, I headed for the shuttle Soton for the shuttle to Long Lake. It was a long drive, about 25 minutes away. Long Lake was a long glacier dammed lake of 4.35 km long (hence the name!) and the highest, deepest and largest lake in Jiuzhaigou. I walked along the lake up until the boardwalk ended before turning back. Then I walked to Colourful Lake, Jiuzhaigou’s smallest and most colourful lake. It is also known as ‘the eye of Jiuzhaigou’.
After that, I walked to the shuttle stop and boarded it to Rhinoceros Lake. The bus had actually moved so I got down at Tiger Lake and walked back to Rhinoceros Lake. O mio dio, the view was incredibly indescribable. I couldn’t stop praising Allah and being thankful that I was there. I felt so blessed to be able to enjoy the view there. I walked down to Shuzheng Waterfall and that was another gorgeous thing. Simply indescribable.
I continued on to Sleeping Dragon Lake and Sparkling Lake then continued on to Double Dragon Lake and Double Dragon Waterfall. I felt like in a fairyland and if there was heaven on earth, well, that came close to it. I understood then why seven hours were allocated.
I then walked for 2 km to the next shuttle stop along the reed lake. Subhanallah. I was rendered almost speechless today. Alhamdulillah for this gift, Allah. Allahuakbar, You are truly the Greatest.
I made it to the visitor centre and saw some local Muslims. I then had my late lunch there (I’d brought a ramen bowl heh). And yes, by the time I was done, it was coming to 17:30.
We were pretty punctual despite being a group of strangers and we were off by 17:40, making our way to Songpan. We reached Songpan at 19:20 and my train was at 20:40. I bought a packet of biscuits from the only shop in the station. There were a lot of passengers waiting to board the same train including school groups. It turned out that the train allowed standing passengers. It was a bit chilly in Songpan with the fading sun.
We reached Chengdu Dong at 22:20 and I stopped to get some food and buy some stuff before heading for my room.
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
It’s my last day in Chengdu. I finished packing and left at around 10:00. I checked out and was informed to leave my bags at The Longemont Hotel so I walked over and did that. I took the metro to Xihe station and from there, waited for bus 219 to Luodai. The bus came after five minutes. I couldn’t use my Alipay to pay and after a few attempts, asked the driver for alternatives. He angrily waved me back so I went to the back and sat down. The Chinese can be so coarse and noisy and rude when they speak, or at least they sound like it.
The bus ride took almost thirty minutes and I went down at the last stop and walked to Luodai Anicent Town. There’s a sizeable Hakka population here. The ancient town is lined with shops and restaurants. I bought some dried ginger and flower tea and browsed the other shops. I walked to the end of the street then turned back. I then decided to do a detour and turned left at an alley and after a short while, came across a Hakka tulou, not unlike the ones I saw and visited in Fujian in January 2026.
I then left Luodai and went to find the bus stop for the bus back to Xihe. I had to ask a few people before I came to the right bus stop. The bus came after ten minutes and I paid ¥2 for the fare in cash.
From Xihe, I took the metro to Kuanzhaixiangzi. This area has buildings that date back to the Qing dynasty. Now it’s a tourist attraction. After walking up and down the street, I walked to Jinli Ancient Street. It took almost an hour but I’d rather walk and see what’s on the surface than find a metro station and be in a train with no view. Jinli is also another tourist attraction but has a small pond, a canal and a bridge that make it charming.
I left at 17:45 and made my way back to The Longemont by metro. I performed prayers at the hotel before leaving for the airport. At the airport, I performed evening prayers before having light dinner (ramen again!). I then joined the queue to drop off my bag. There were so many people planning to fly MAS that evening. Then it was time for passport control. I then walked to the gate to wait for my plane to arrive from KL.
Thursday, 11 June 2026
We boarded the plane and I settled down and tried to sleep. I managed to doze off during take-off and woke up just before they served supper. I was surprised to note no female cabin crew in my section. Maybe there was one or two but they served a different section of the plane and as I didn’t visit the bathroom, I didn’t manage to find out.
We landed at 05:15 and were almost at the gate by 05:30. However, we needed to get a vehicle to haul us to the gate so by the time i disembarked, it was closer to 06:00. My bag was out just after I finished prayers so I managed to catch the 06:22 KLIA Transit train. Alhamdulillah. I’m already planning to return to China. InsyaAllah.
The end
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