Shuangqiao Valley is one of the three opened parks of Mount Siguniang. It is over 30km long and a valley that visitors can see lots of snow mountains and beautiful forests. Tourist buses are used for visiting this valley. It is the least physical-demanding park to visit in Siguniang. The valley is with a series of “scenic spots”, which are the places where visitors get off the bus and take photos. A road was built in the valley however one can still choose to walk between the bus stops. The buses are running like public buses: you can get off and get on at the bus stops to tour the park of Shuangqiao. Tourists of all ages can have a visit to this park as it does not involves lots of walking if using the bus.
Shuangqiao Entrance
In the valley among the scenic spots, there are beautiful places called Natural Basai, Pearl Shoal, Potala Peak, Wuse Mountain, Sun and Moon Mirror, Hunter Peak, Ginseng Orchard, Shaji Forest, Jiujia Lake, Abi Peak, Holy Mother Peak and many glaciers and forests. The most beautiful part of the park is the upper part of the valley from the end to around Nianyuba.
Shuangqiao Valley is located 10km west to the town of Rilong (Mt. Siguniangshan Town) and 210km away from Chengdu. It is the western most part of the Siguniang Parks. If you plan to stay overnight in Siguniang, most of the hotels are located in the town of Rilong, 10km east to the entrance of Shuangqiao. You will need a local taxi from Rilong to visit the park of Shuangqiao. Taxis are easy to get during busy travel season. The taxis are not organized by taxi companies but rather local private drivers offering business to travelers.
Normally the way to tour Shuangqiao of Siguniang is to use the tourist bus from the entrance to the end of the valley and then start to tour down using bus by making stops at each stop to see the beautiful views of the park. There is no requires on how much time to spend by each site. There are total 8 stops in Shuangqiao Valley. Normally it takes around 3-4 hours total to tour the park of Shuangqiao by using bus all the way.
Peaks in Shuangqiao
Shuangqiao Upper Part
Shuangqiao Valley Hiking
Longzhutso Lake
Shuangqiao Upper Part
Hiking Shuangqiao
One can also do a hiking in Shuangqiao Valley to better appreciate the scenery. Despite Shuangqiao being the busiest park of all three parks of Siguniang, few choose to walk the boardwalks in Shuangqiao therefore the hiking is usually quiet.
All travelers need to use the bus to get to the end of the valley and then tour down either using bus or do some flexible walking down between the stops. From our experience, most of the visitors use bus to go to the end of valley and then use bus to make stops along the way out, and take photos by each stop, which has been the main way of visiting this valley for many visitors. Hiking the boardwalks inside Shuangqiao you will enjoy some quiet time while visiting. One barely sees people walking on them. Therefore the hiking trail is actually quiet and nice to walk because normally there are not many other people doing the hiking.
Boardwalk inside Shuangqiao is on flat terrain and there is no steep sections at all. The end of the valley is called Red larch Forest. From Red Larch Forest (end of valley) to Potala Peak Stop is 5km, from Potala Peak Stop to Sigu Natso stop is 3.5km, from Sigu Natso Lake stop to the next stop at Nianyuba (rafting entrance) the boardwalk was destroyed by mudslide and not been repaired(til 2022), one can only walk on road for 3km, from the rafting entrance to rafting exit is aroundd 1.5km on boardwalk that is good and beautiful, from rafting exit stop to Longzhutso Lake is around 2.5km, from where to the next stop by the museum is 1km, from where to the last stop Rensen Guoping is 7km with no boardwalk but only road. So the good part of boardwalk is from Red Larch Forest to Sigunatso Lake 8.5km, and then from Rafting Entrance stop to Museum is another 5km to walk. Normally to walk total distance takes around 5-6h minimum.
Most of the walking in Shuangqiao is on boardwalk and small section on road. Even if it's on road there are not many cars so it's relative okay to even walk on the road. The highlights of Shuangqiao Valley include the peaks by end of the valley (Red Larch Forest), the first 5km down from Red Larch Forest, the part down from Potala Peak to Sigu Natso Lake, and Nianyuba to Longzhutso Lake. Lower from the museum there is no boardwalk and the views are less attractive comparing to the upper part.
There is one thing to be noted while planning hiking to Shuangqiao of Siguniang is that during winter season the boardwalks will likely be closed off due to maintainance or other reasons. Normally from December to the next April the boardwalks are closed for hiking but this is not definate.
The altitude of the hiking trail is between 3800m and 3400m. It is overall flat and considered easy hiking.
Rafting in Shuangqiao
There is a rafting available in Shuangqiao from Nianyuba that costs 100 yuan PP extra. One doesn't have to pre-book this but rather go there and do it. It is very safe but also very exciting rafting for around 20 minutes total. There are no dangerous sections you need to worry. The part of rafting there is an alternative hiking boardwalk that is also very nice to walk on along the river.
Shuangqiao Valley of Siguniang is one of the most popular ice climbing places in China. A lot of people get trained here on ice climbing every winter.
Horse-riding is not available in Shuangqiao park.
The best seasons to travel to Shuangqiao is from May to November. The busy season is July, August and October. If you want to avoid big crowds you may consider traveling by the shoulder seasons in May, June, September and November.
Autumn is considered a very good season to visit this valley (generally autumn is good to visit any valley of Mt. Siguniang). Due to the color of the forest will turn into yellow or red, which makes your photo looks even beautiful. Shuangqiao Valley is the place in Mt. Siguniang where lots of tourists will visit during their visit because of the bus in the valley making the visit less physically demanded. Please read more details here about Siguniang Travel Season.
Shuangqiao Valley requires separate entrance ticket to get into the park. A tourist bus ticket is usually sold together with entrance ticket. All entrance tickets to Shuangqiao have been digitalized and haven’t been made easy for foreign visitors. Sichuan Travel Guide offers ticket booking service to Shuangqiao, please contact us for more information.
Entrance Ticket: 80 yuan per person for busy season (Apr - Nov), 60 yuan per person for low season (Dec - Mar)
Tourist Bus: 70 yuan per person. ourist bus in Shuangqiao runs like public bus. It goes all the way from entrance to end of valley by Red Larch Forest, where is the first stop. From end of the valley the bus drives down and makes total 7 stops along the way down the valley. A bus normally waits for around 10-20 minutes depending on the number of visitors. You don't have to use the same bus all the way but rather choose however long time you want to spend at each stop. Therefore if you want to choose to only walk between certain stops this is possible.
Business Hour:8:00-16:00
Recommended Time to Spend:4-7 hours
Altitude Range: 3200m - 3800m
A visit to Shuangqiao is recommended for anyone who goes to Siguniang. Some local people believe it is the most beautiful valley of all three valleys of Siguniang. It is the busiest valley because it is easily accessed by tourist bus to go to the very end of the valley. But on the boardwalk it is not so busy since most visitors will only crowd the bus stops and not on the boardwalk between the stops.
Normally a visit to Shuangqiao takes around 3-4 hours if you are not doing any hiking. If you do want to walk the boardwalks of Shuangqiao, it is recommended to plan for 5-7 hours depending on how long you want to walk. To give an idea of how much time you are actually spend on visiting/hiking, the bus ride from entrance to the end takes 45 minutes alone.
Shuangqiao is also a very nice place to do acclimating for people who goes to higher places in Siguniang such as trekking from Changping to Bipeng, or trekking to Dafeng or Erfeng Summit.
If you are traveling during summer time, you are recommended to go to Shuangqiao in the morning instead of afternoon to have a higher chance of good weather in general (but not definite).
One must be aware of the high altitude of Shuangqiao when traveling. Try avoid put too much stress on your body while visiting Shuangqiao. The highest point in Shuangqiao Valley (where can be accessed by visitors normally) is at around 3800m. If you don’t feel well please do use the tourist bus to go down quickly to the base of the park. Proper packing to include warm clothing, rainproof, enough drinking water to keep yourself warm, hydrated is important.
There are some local stalls selling simple food, snacks by some of the bus stops in the park by local people. Bottled water is also available by these stops. There is basically no places to stay overnight inside this park except some simple lodges that offer bunks and basic rooms for overnight visitors who do ice climbing.
Camping is allowed inside Shuangqiao but will need special permit. Shuangqiao is actually a good place to camp for overnight if one is not bothered by going through the hassles of getting the special permit.
Normally one stays overnight in the hotels in Rilong (Mt. Siguniang Town) where there are plenty of hotels available. Outside of Shuangqiao Park entrance there are also some hotels available too.
Route: Chengdu - Mt.Siguniang - Chengdu
Route: Chengdu - Mt.Sguniang - Chengdu
Route: Chengdu - Mt.Siguniang - Lixian - Chengdu
