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Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrival in Beijing
Upon arrival, we are transferred to our hotel. Our tour begins with dinner and an orientation for the coming adventure. Night in Beijing.

Day 2 – Summer Palace and flight to Chengdu
After breakfast, we visit the Summer Palace, originally a royal garden and a temporary dwelling palace for emperors of Qing Dynasty. The complex is huge, and we can only sample part of these spacious gardens. Enter through the south gate, exit through one of northern gates. We will be introduced to many common Chinese birds such as Blue and Azure-winged Magpies, with possible early Yellow Bitterns, Black-browed and Oriental Reed Warblers, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler and Ruddy-breasted Crake. Afterward, we fly to Chengdu , the capital city of Sichuan Province, and check into our hotel. Night in Chengdu.

Day 3 - Chengdu to Kangding
Today we head west through deep valleys and narrow gorges to Kangding where we climb over Mt. Erlang Shan. On the way, we will encounter White-browed Laughingthrush, Eurasian Blackbird, Spotted Dove, White-capped Water-Redstart, Plumbeous Water-Redstart, Large-billed Crow, Red-billed Chough, Black-throated Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Shrike, and Oriental Turtle Dove. Kangding has a strong Tibetan influence in customs and buildings; it is a bustling Tibetan market town and the capital of Ganzi Tibetan Prefecture in Sichuan Province and was traditionally the gateway to the Tibetan world for Han Chinese. We explore this area, looking for the several species of parrotbills, Phylloscopus warblers, exotic pheasants, maybe Streaked Barwing, Rusty-capped Fulvetta, and possibly the superb Firethroat. Night in Kangding.

Day 4 - Kangding to Phag Mo Gling
Today we head further west through Zheduo Shan Pass at an altitude of 4,298m. We stop near the pass to look for some very choice pheasants, including Blood Pheasant, Yellow-necked koklass pheasant, Sichuan Pheasant Partridge, and White Eared-Pheasant. We also look for White-browed Rosefinch, Beautiful Rosefinch, Giant Laughingthrush, Elliot's Laughingthrush, Kessler's Thrush, Chinese Fulvetta, White-browed Fulvetta, and Derby's Parakeet. Later we will pass by the town of Xinduqiao, reputed to be a photographers’ paradise for its beautiful scenery of alpine meadows with yaks and horses. Then we arrive at town of Bajiaolou, and then climb up to Phag Mo Gling. Night in the monastery guesthouse.

Day 5-6 - Phag Mo Gling
Phag Mo Gling was named after the mountain where it is located. Holy Phag Mo Gling Mount is situated on its east side, which is called “Dhoji Phag Mo” in Tibetan. Benefiting from beliefs and teachings of reincarnation as well as all creatures born equal in Tibetan Buddhism, the wildlife around the monastery has always been worshiped and looked after by lamas and local people in a harmonious relationship. Since 2005 the monastery has been carrying out a work of wildlife supervision under the assistance of Conservation International. The lamas here have established an interesting connection with the birds nearby. Early every morning, stunning birds like White Eared Pheasant, Sichuan Pheasant Partridge, Blood Pheasant and others visit a slope next to the monastery, waiting for the lamas to offer grain. Other species in this area include Chinese Hazel Grouse, Golden Eagle, Yellow-necked Koklass Pheasant, Derby's Parakeet, Black-eared Kite, Northern Goshawk, Eurasian Buzzard, Eurasian Kestrel and Eurasian Hobby. We search for birds near the monastery, meanwhile appreciating the beautiful landscape and still very pristine forests nearby. We may catch a glimpse of snow-capped Mt. Holy Yala, one of the four holy mountains in the Tibetan world, shining in the sun to the north.

The second day we spend searching birds along paths nearby. Here we look for White Wagtail, Beautiful Rose-finch, White-browed Rose-finch, Great Tit, Black-browed Tit, Tickell's Leaf Warbler, Elliot’s Laughingthrush, White-browed Fulvetta, Rufous-vented Tit, Long-tailed Minivet, Kessler’s Thrush, Hill Pigeon and Oriental Turtle Dove. Nights in the monastery guesthouse.

Day 7 - Phag Mo Gling to Yajiang
We spend the morning birding on Phag Mo Gling, and then after lunch we drive down to the main road. Later we travel west to through this dramatic landscape Yajiang. Night in Yajiang.

Day 8 - Yajiang to Danba
Leaving Yajiang we head east to Xinduqiao, on the way we will cross a Gaoersi Shan at an elevation of 4100m, where we hope to find more pheasants and laughingthrushes. We then travel north to Danba via the great Tagong Grassland. On the way we pass snow-capped Mt. Holy Yala at town of Bamei. Today our destination will be Danba, full of traditional classical Tibetan houses and castles. The Tagong Grassland is home to Tibetan nomads, huge mountains, exotic temples and many exciting birds, including Hume's Groundpecker, White-winged Redstart, Himalayan Griffon, Wallcreeper, White-browed Tit Warbler and Brown Accentor. Night in Danba.

Day 9 - Danba to Rilong
We spend the morning birding around Danba, searching for more exciting specie, including Himalayan Griffon, Lammergeier, Black Baza, Blood Pheasant, Temminck's Tragopan, Common Pheasant, White Eared-Pheasant, Oriental Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Shrike, Red-billed Chough, Daurian Jackdaw, Yellow-billed Chough, White-capped Water-Redstart, Plumbeous Water-Redstart, Giant Laughingthrush, and Elliot's Laughingthrush. We drive east to Rilong, where beautiful Mt. Siguanniang Shan is situated. Mt. Siguniang Shan is made up of four peaks above 5,000m, the highest of which is at an altitude of 6,225m with a snow-capped summit. We use Rilong as our accommodation base for birding at Mt. Balang Shan.

Day 10-11 - Mt. Balang Shan Pass
Today we leave early and drive to the mighty Balang Shan Pass. With luck, Wood Snipe will be displaying over some of the higher alpine meadows. Koklass Pheasant and Kessler's Thrush both breed close to the tree line here and while the former is elusive and difficult to see, we are sure to hear its barking calls ringing across the valleys. The spectacular Chinese Monal Pheasant also occurs here.
Continuing still higher we spend some time around the summit of the pass that, at almost 4,500 metres, is the highest point we will reach on the entire tour. Small coveys of scurrying Snow Partridges and Tibetan Snowcocks are regularly seen on the scree slopes beside the road, as are Grandalas, the males resplendent in their cobalt blue plumage. Other high altitude specialties could include Lammergeier, Red and Yellow-billed Chough, Alpine Accentor, Brandt's Mountain Finch and Red-fronted Rosefinch. Targets on the mid-slopes will include both Barred and the mighty Giant Laughingthrush, while lower down we will scan the skies for White-throated Needletails. Nor will we neglect the mammals – the park boasts populations of Himalayan Marmot and both Blue Sheep and Takin. Nights in Rilong.

Day 12 - Rilong to Chengdu
Today we head south to City of Ya’an via Mt. Jiajing Shan and then make a turn to east back to Chengdu City, ending this fantastic birding journey in Western Sichuan. Night in Chengdu.

Day 13 - Chengdu - Great Wall - Beijing
We take the morning flight back to Beijing. Then we visit the Great Wall, one of the greatest wonders of the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is likely to be crowded, but we could still find Daurian Jackdaw, Daurian Redstart, Siberian Accentor, rosefinches and Rock Bunting. Night in Beijing.

Day 14 – Beijing
After an early breakfast, we head to a site where Ibisbill have occurred, and with luck we’ll see this mythical bird. We spend the rest of the day sight-seeing in Beijing, where we visit Tian’anmen Square, the Forbidden City of the Chinese Emperors and the Lama Temple. We have a farewell dinner of Beijing (Peking) Duck. Night in Beijing.

Day 15 – Departure
The tour concludes in Beijing after breakfast.

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What to Expect

Be prepared for changeable weather conditions, with blue skies alternating with overcast conditions. Rain is likely, and we could even have snow at the higher altitudes. In the Chengdu area it is likely to be hot and fairly humid, 25°C and higher (77°F +) at midday. It is cooler and less humid at higher altitudes, and on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau temperatures could dip to freezing or slightly below, especially in the early morning. Accommodations will range from three to four-star hotels in Beijing and around Chengdu and Wolong with private bathrooms, restaurants and other expected facilities. Elsewhere accommodation is more basic, but clean and well maintained, with private bathroom. Food will range from western-style in Beijing and Chengdu to traditionally Chinese at guesthouses using chopsticks – a good idea is to bring your own cutlery.

As several days are spent above 3000 m, with birding above 3800 m, it is important for anyone with heart or respiratory ailments seek medical advice before deciding to participate; only basic medical facilities exist away from Chengdu and Beijing. When at high altitudes we attempt to limit our activities, to avoid excessively walking up hill and move at a slow pace so as to avoid altitudinal headaches and breathlessness. However, anyone in good health and reasonably fit should experience few problems. Also, we will not be trekking, therefore our pace will be slow. We do, however, cover steep terrain in places in order to reach the habitat that is our goal, therefore a reasonable degree of fitness is essential. Biting insects should not pose a problem, although small numbers of mosquitoes will be encountered.

We follow our itinerary closely; however should circumstances occur where we cannot do this, then a degree of flexibility is required, and participants should be adventurous and willing to put up with the occasional discomfort which is inherent in such travel to remote and culturally different areas. In the evening, we review what we’ve seen that day, and discuss activities for the following day.