Chengdu
Pandas' Hometown
Jiuzhaigou
Famous Fairyland
Emeishan
Sacred Buddhist Site
Leshan
Giant Buddha
Gonggashan
Best for Hiking
Daocheng Yading
Shangri La Views
Dujiangyan
Irrigation System
Siguniangshan
Eastern Alps
Updated on 19 Dec 2023.
Dafeng is overloaded since summer of 2023. Erfeng is better than Dafeng. But since it is required by the park to have a local guide/porter to go with you if you are going to Dafeng (or Erfeng) so you can’t go there by yourself. It is difficult to secure a porter/local guide if you are planning the trip in short notice. It is recommended to book trips to Dafeng 6 months ahead of time otherwise there is no available spot.
The way to Dafeng is full of people everyday. You need to queue to make the summit each morning. The base camp is full of people and it is not quite organized.
The horses have been over-working since summer. Packhorses are more likely to be used as riding horse (for visitors/hikers) as it is better money, or sometimes they are both packhorses and riding horses at the same time. We have seen more dead horses this year possibly due to over-work. Over-working horses then may easily be startled and then may cause risk to the rider.
It is required by the park to go as 1 guide takes 2 hikers. But it’s possible you won’t see your guide the whole trip. Some estimate the actual guide VS hiker ratio is close to 1:10 if not lower. A lot of inexperienced guides from around Rilong have come to join the guide team in Dafeng and has caused issues such as quality of service, attitude issues, safety issues.
When using a horse for people can make more money, then if you don’t ride a horse, the local guides may think they are losing money. Local guides are unwilling to do any trips that have more than 2 days in the mountains. Every two days local guides can pick up some new hikers (often with many wish to ride horses) and then it’s much better money for them than any other trips. Riding a horse single way from Rilong to Dafeng BC costs between CNY400 to CNY600 depending on your body weight. Riding horse from Dafeng BC back to Rilong costs between CNY400 to CNY1000 depending on the urgency level. (some hikers often need to evacuate and it is also good chance for local guides to make money).
Because of the above reasons, we (Sichuan Travel Guide) as a company catering to foreign travelers we have decided to suspend our service in Siguniang for any multi-day trekking in the mountains including Dafeng, Erfeng and the trek from Changping to Bipeng. We can still check availability for anyone who can speak mandarin and help to sign you up to one of the groups but we can’t ganrautee anything. Or if you are a group of over 10 people we can also try to make arrangement for you. We recommend you to have day hikes into each valley of Shuangqiao, Changping and Haizi instead. If you are into multi-day trekking with nights in tents, you may check other beautiful places in Sichuan such as Minya Konka, Genyen. If you are looking at summiting a 5000er, you may also consult us for alternatives where there is less/no people.
It’s sad to see the exhausted horses overworking everyday. And hopefully we will see a change in management of the park in Haizigou of Siguniang to improve things. Please send your inquiry to us to get updated information regarding this.
