Sichuan Travel

Overview
Sichuan is located in the southwestern part of China. Bordering Chongqing to the east, Tibet to the west, Qinghai and Gansu to the north, Yunnan and Guizhou to the south. Sichuan has a total area of 485,000 square kilometres and a total population of 87 million. Sichuan is one of the largest and most inaccessible province in China. Sichuan can be divided into two major topographical parts, the Sichuan Basin and the Western Sichuan Plateau. Sichuan Province, with its capital Chengdu is home to the famous Giant Panda. Chengdu is also the political, cultural and economical center of Sichuan Province.

Climate
The climate in Sichuan is vastly different between its eastern and western parts. The Sichuan Basin has a humid sub-tropical monsoonal climate, with mild winters, hot summers, long frost-free period, plentiful rainfall and mist, high humidity, and less sunshine. Its average temperature in July, the hottest month, is 27ºC. The Western Sichuan Plateau with its plateau climate has lower temperature and less rainfall than the Sichuan Basin, both of which differ again in the southern and northern sections of the plateau.

When to Go 
Sichuan a subtropical monsoon climate. The summer is hot, long and humid while the winter is cold, dry and cloudy. The average annual temperature is 16.5C. The best time to visit Sichuan is Spring and Autumn.

What to See
Sichuan is home to the Giant Panda. Sichuan basin has beautiful landscape and natural scenery. Famous attractions in Sichun are Mt. Emeishan, Mt. Qingcheng, Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area, Huang Long Valley, Dujiangyan Irrigation Project of China, Leshan Giant Buddha, Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base.

Local Cuisine
Sichuan cuisine is well-known worldwide, including dishes like Kung Pao Chicken and Twice Cooked Pork. It is also famously spicy, with liberal use of chilies and the indigenous Sichuan pepper. One of the other specialty of the area is the Hot Pot.

Transportation
Railways: five trunk lines including the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway, Chengdu-Kunming Railway and Baoji-Chengdu Railway, eight feeders and four local railway lines, with the mileage open to traffic reaching 2,693 km.

Highways: the mileage of highways has reached 81,600 km. An expressway network with Chengdu, capital of the province, at the center, is taking shape. By the end of 1998, a total of 328 km of expressway had opened to traffic.

Airports: the Chengdu Shuangliu Airport has become one of the busiest international airports in China. Another five civil airports at Dachuan, Yibin, Luzhou, Xichuang and Nanchong have also been open to traffic.