Sichuan, China Birding Tours

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2025 May 2-May 21  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , scheduled tour, group limit : 9-10 pax, cost: 3950 USD,  tour is full

2025 May 22-June 10  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , private tour, tour is full

2025 June 11-June 30  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , scheduled tour, group limit : 9-10 pax, cost: 3950 USD, tour is full

2026 April 27-May 16  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , scheduled tour, group limit : 9-10 pax, cost: 3950 USD

2026 May 19-June 7  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , scheduled tour, group limit : 9-10 pax, cost: 3950 USD

2026 June 10-June 29  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , private tour, tour is full

2027 April 28-May 17  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , scheduled tour, group limit : 9 pax, cost: 4300 USD

2027 May 20-June 8  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , scheduled tour, group limit : 9 pax, cost: 4300 USD

2027 June 11-June 30  (20 days)   Leader : Summer Wong , scheduled tour, group limit : 9 pax, cost: 4300 USD

Each tour itinerary may vary slightly depending on target species and the latest birding conditions, in order to maximize your birding experience.

Besides scheduled & private tours, we also offer budget tours. For more details, feel free to Contact Us

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Single Room Supplement (19nights) : USD 600 per person

Tour Cost Includes:

• All ground transportation by private car/van/coach
• Accommodation in twin-share or single rooms
• All meals (including daily bottled water, packed breakfasts, and lunches/dinners mostly at local restaurants)
• All necessary entrance fees and nature reserve permits
• Guide/driver’s meals, accommodation, and service fees

Tour Cost Excludes:

• International and domestic flights
• Travel insurance
• Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages
• Tips for local staff

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Scroll down to check out the itinerary, map, photos of hotels and food, plus birds, mammals, and stunning scenery

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Our Best of Sichuan Itinerary is based on many years experience of taking tours in this Province of China. The birding, scenery and food are all outstanding. We aim to try to find as many of Sichuan’s endemic or near-endemic breeding species as possible, along with a host of other more widespread Asian breeding species. Birds we will target include Chinese Monal, White-eared, Blue-eared, Lady Amherst’s and Golden Pheasants, Temminck’s Tragopan, Verreaux’s Monal-partridge, Sichuan and Tibetan Partridges, Chinese Grouse, Tibetan Snowcock, Sichuan Wood Owl, Snowy-cheeked, Black-necked Crane, Pere David’s, Elliot’s, Barred, Buffy and Giant Laughingthrushes, Emei Shan Liocichla, Moupinia/ Rufous-tailed Babbler, Grey-hooded, Spectacled, Golden, Fulvous, Great, Brown, Ashy-throated and Three-toed Parrotbills, Sichuan Jay, Tibetan Lark, Slaty Bunting, Golden, Chinese and Spectacled Fulvettas, Yellow-streaked, Buff-throated, Sulphur-breasted, Bianchi’s, Marten’s, Grey-crowned and Alstrom’s Warblers, Emei, Sichuan, Alpine, Humes, Claudia’s, Kloss’s and Chinese Leaf Warblers, White-browed and Crested Tit Warblers, Sichuan, Spotted and Baikal Bush Warblers, Pere David’s, Sichuan, White-browed, Fire-capped and Ground Tits, Przevalski’s Nuthatches, Hodgson’s and Sichuan Treecreepers, Siberian and Chinese Rubythroats, Firethroat, Chestnut, Kessler’s and Sichuan Forest Thrushes, Three-banded, Chinese White-browed, Himalayan Beautiful, Streaked, Pink-rumped, Dark-breasted, Dark-rumped, Sharpe’s and Chinese Long-tailed Rosefinches, Rufous-necked and White-rumped Snowfinches and Przevalski’s Finch, now in its very own family!

PS: Our final tour itinerary may change a little bit due to the latest birding situation. Birding spots in Sichuan tour : Tangjiahe, Chuanzhusi / Gonggangling, Ruoergai, Maerkang / Mengbishan, Wolong / Balangshan, Wawushan, Longcanggou, Hailuogou, Luding / Erlangshan, Labahe, Pingshan (Tanshi Village) etc.

Day 1  Arrive in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. Night in Chengdu Atour Hotel.

Day 2  In the early morning we will visit a park which offers a good opportunity to see some interesting birds including Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Black-throated Tit, Yellow-billed Grosbeak ( Chinese Grosbeak ), Chinese Blackbird, White-browed Laughingthrush, Little Egret, Little Grebe and perhaps Chinese Bamboo Partridge then head to Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve for an overnight stay.

Day 3  Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve is a good place to see a number of species including Golden Pheasant, Temminck’s Tragopan, Slaty Bunting and the rare Tawny Fish Owl and we will target these species during our stay. Commoner birds that we might encounter include Mountain Hawk Eagle, White-backed Woodpecker, Collared Finchbill, Brown-breasted Bulbul, , Elliot’s and White-throated Laughingthrush, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Yellow-bellied and Green-backed Tit, Crested Kingfisher, Fujian Niltava, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, Claudia’s Leaf Warblers, Sulphur-breasted Warbler and Alstrom’s Warbler. Many mammals also occur in this area, including Takin, Reeve’s Muntjac, Tufted Deer, Tibetan Macaque, Chinese Serow, Chinese Goral and Yellow-throated Marten. If we are lucky we might see a couple of these species, and there is also an outside chance of encountering the rare Golden Snub-nosed Monkey or even Asiatic Black Bear.

Day 4  After the morning birding in Tangjiahe we head to Chuanzhusi, long drive day around 7-8 hours, birding on the way looking for Collared Crow and Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler, lunch and birding stop at Huangtuliang Pass with chances for Spotted and Chestnut-crowned Bush Warblers, Long-tailed Thrush and Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch.  Night in Songpan.

Day 5  Early morning birding in Gongganglin forest, then head to Ruoergai, night in Ruoergai

Gongganglin is an area of high altitude coniferous forest not far from Juizhaigou, and is one of the best places to encounter Sichuan Wood Owl, which we will search for as it gets light. After that we will concentrate on other target species that are sometimes seen in this area, including Blue-eared Pheasant, White-browed and Crested Tit Warblers, Chinese White-browed, Pink-rumped and Three-banded Rosefinches, Siberian Rubythroat, White-cheeked Nuthatch, Maroon-backed Accentor, Hodgson’s Treecreeper, White-throated and White-bellied Redstart,  Severtzov’s (Chinese) Grouse is also very occasionally seen in this area, but very hard to find.

Days 6- 7  Birding in the Ruoergai area including Baxi forest and the Tibetan Plateau, night in Ruoergai.

We will spend two days birding near Ruoergai, with one morning concentrating on Baxi forest and the other on the Tibetan Plateau. Baxi is the probably the best place in Sichuan to find Blue-eared Pheasant, Chinese Grouse, Three-banded Rosefinch, Przevalski’s (White-Cheeked) Nuthatch, Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush, Chinese Fulvetta, Sichuan Tit, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Giant Laughingthrush and Black Woodpecker, and we will concentrate on these species. Commoner birds here include species such as Chestnut and Kessler’s Thrush, Chinese, Greenish and Buff-barred Warbler, and Grey-headed Bulfinch. Wolves have been seen in this vicinity, but are extremely rare.

Our second morning will be either spent at Baxi, if we have missed anything important there, or we can potentially target Przevalski’s Finch (Pink-tailed Bunting) and Tibetan (Black-winged) Snowfinch about an hour from our hotel. In the afternoon we will visit the high plains of the Tibetan Plateau where we will look for Black-necked Crane, Tibetan Lark, Rufous-necked and White-rumped Snowfinch, Horned Lark and perhaps Twite. Tibetan Grey Shrike is sometimes also seen in the Ruoergai area whilst Ground-tit is fairly common, even at the edge of town.

Day 8  Today is a rather long travel day (320km), our destination being Maerkang, but there are plenty of good birds to see on route and we will stop several times at key sites for birds that we still need. These may include Tibetan Partridge, Saker Falcon, Przevalski’s Finch (if still needed), White-browed Tit Warbler, Sichuan Tit, White-browed Tit, Pere David’s (Plain) Laughingthrush, Azure-winged Magpie, Tibetan Snowfinch, and Little Owl. Night in Maerkang.

Day 9  In the early morning we will drive up into the mountains to visit the beautiful pine forests of Mengbishan. This is the best place in Sichuan to find the often elusive Sichuan Jay and Verreaux’s Monal-partridge (Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge), and there is a good supporting cast including Blood Pheasant, Giant Laughingthrush, Long-tailed Thrush, Crested Tit-Warbler, Chinese Fulvetta, Crimson-browed Finch and Collared Grosbeak. Other notable birds in this area include Himalayan Bluetail, Giant Laughingthrush, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Streaked, Himalayan Beautiful, Pink-rumped and Chinese White-browed Rosefinches. White Eared Pheasant, Three-banded Rosefinch and Black Woodpecker are also possible but rare. Night in Maerkang.

Day 10  This is a travel day, with birding on the way, passing some magnificent scenery on route to Wolong, where we spend the night. Birds we will search for on route include Long-tailed Rosefinches of the distinctive race henrici, Wallcreeper, Yellow-streaked Warbler, Hill Pigeon, Hodgson’s Redstart and Asian House Martin along with both species of chough. If we arrive early enough in Wolong we will also have time to look for the recently recognized Sichuan Forest Thrush and Firethroat.

Day 11  We will start the day very early, have breakfast in an area that is good for Chinese Monal and White-eared Pheasant and occasionally Koklass Pheasant before we head back up towards the Balang Shan Pass if the weather is good. Balang Shan supports a number of high-altitude species, including Tibetan Snowcock, Snow Partridge, Red-fronted and Streaked Rosefinch, Brandt’s Mountain Finch, Alpine Accentor, Rosy Pipit, and with luck, Grandala. We will bird down the mountain during the afternoon and eventually spend the night in Wolong. On route we will stop frequently to look for a variety of species including Himalayan Griffon, Yellow-billed and Red-billed Chough, Firethroat, Giant and Barred Laughingthrushes, Alpine Thrush, Sichuan Forest Thrush, Slaty Bunting, recently split Chinese Rubythroat, Crested Tit Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Bush Warbler, Collared and White-winged Grosbeak, Kessler’s and Chestnut Thrushes. The area we visit is extremely good for Rosefinches, and we might encounter any of the following species during our two full days here: Sharpe’s Chinese Beautiful, Chinese White-browed, Dark-breasted, Vinaceous, and Pink-rumped Rosefinch. Night in Wolong.

Day 12  We will head back into the mountains before light, this time probably concentrating first on some birds in the lower part of the valley (although this depends on weather and what we saw the previous day). Night in Wolong.

Day 13  After another early start, we spend the morning birding between Wolong and Rilong, before heading to Wawu Shan, where we spend the night. If time allowed we will spend the afternoon looking for some low altitude species such as Grey-crowned Warbler, Alstrom’s Warbler, Ashy-throated Parrotbill in Wawu Shan. 

Day 14  This will be a full day in Wawu Shan which is the best place for parrotiblls in Sichuan, with chances of seeing Three-toed, Fulvous, Golden, Great, Brown and Ashy-throated Parrotbills and also Grey-hooded. There is also a reasonable chance of Temminck’s Tragopan along with a number of other special species such as Grey-hooded, Gold-fronted and Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Sichuan Treecreeper, Red-winged, Buffy, Spotted and Elliot’s Laughingthrushes, Emei Shan Liocichla, Spotted Bush Warblers and White-bellied Redstart. Red Panda is also seen here regularly.

Day 15  Morning birding in Wawu Shan for missed species previously then drive from Wawu Shan to Luding. Night in Luding.

Day 16  Luding is not far from Erlang Shan, where we will spend the day looking for a different set of birds. Erlang Shan is the best place to see Lady Amherst’s Pheasant and Moupinia (Rufous-tailed Babbler) and we will target these two species along with Chinese Song Thrush, Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler, Streaked Barwing, Gold-fronted Fulvetta, Yellow-bellied Tit, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Black-browed Bushtit, Golden Bush Robin, Brown, Grey-hooded, Fulvous and Great Parrotbills and a number of species that we may have missed previously, such as Firethroat and Barred Laughingthrush. Sharpe’s Rosefinch is also a possibility at this site. Night in Luding.

Day 17  After morning birding in Erlang Shan for missed species previously then head to Labahe, night in Labahe.

Day 18  Full day birding in Labahe Provincial Nature Reserve, Night in Labahe.

Labahe is another great place for Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, Temminck’s Tragopan along with other rare birds like Sichuan Treecreeper, Pere David’s and Fire-capped Tit, quite a few parrotbill species : Fulvous, Brown, Great and Golden Parrotbills.  And other nice small species : Chinese and Pygmy Wren-babbler, Ashy-throated Warbler, Sichuan, Large-billed and Claudia’s Leaf Warblers, David’s Fulvetta , Stripe-throated and White-collared Yuhina, Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Chestnut-flanked White-eye, Goldcrest, Fujian Niltava, Verditer, Slaty-blue, Ferruginous and Rufous-gorgeted Flycatchers, Himalayan (White-browed) Shortwing and Brown Dipper. Red Panda has a possibility there. 

Day 19  After morning birding in Labahe then drive back to Chengdu with a brief stop for Swinhoe’s Minivet (near Ya’an) and Forest Wagtail. Night in Chengdu Atour Hotel.

Day 20  Departure, Chengdu Airport send off.

Map

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Hotel & Food on Sichuan tour

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Birds, mammals & scenery in Sichuan

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