A time for discovery

COOL|SICHUAN

Tracing tradition through mountains and stories

Langzhong Ancient City in Sichuan's Nanchong is certainly a cultural cradle and perhaps the oldest living museum of Spring Festival.

The Zigong Lantern Festival, Chengdu's temple fair and laba porridge dished out at the capital's Wenshu Monastery are hallmarks of Spring Festival celebrations, Sichuan style.

Zigong's lanterns are among the country's most illustrious and have become synonymous with the city since the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Chengdu's downtown temple fair is staged at the Temple of Marquis Wu and the nearby ancient Jinli Street. It presents Three Kingdoms (220-280) culture, lantern displays and performances of Sichuan Opera, including the genre's distinctive stunts — face-changing, fire-breathing and lantern-rolling.

Sichuan's laba tradition is said to date back two millennia. For three centuries, people have lined up at Wenshu Monastery for a free bowl brimming with 14 ingredients, including red dates and goji berries.

Travelers can brave the crowds at iconic sites like Sichuan's panda parks, the Sanxingdui ruins and Leshan's Giant Buddha.

Or, they may venture further afield to one of southern China's largest ski destinations, the Xiling Snow Mountain, about 100 km from Chengdu. Xiling features snowmobiling, snow tubing and sledding, just 15 km from the Huashuiwan hot springs, which are believed to offer healing properties.

Visitors can also ski and soak on the slopes and springs of Mount Emei, one of Chinese Buddhism's four sacred peaks, in Leshan. They can blast down from Emei's crown at the Leidongping Ski Ranch and recharge in geothermal radon and sulfur pools at the mountain's foot.

Ice climbers clip on crampons and head to the Siguniang Mountains' Shuangqiao Valley in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang prefecture. Over 100 waterfalls freeze into icefalls and walls when the temperature drops.

Less-crowded destinations during Chinese New Year include the nearly 1,400-year-old Anren Ancient Town, which features Anren Old Street, Liu's Manor Museum and the Jianchuan Museum Cluster.

The Jianchuan Museum houses more than 10 million artifacts, including around 7,000 national-level relics.

Further still off the beaten track, one of the world's last operating narrow-gauge passenger steam trains chugs through Qianwei county. Visitors can hop aboard for the two-hour round trip, veering along 108 bends and clacking through six tunnels on the nearly 20-km-long Bashi Railway built in 1958 to transport coal.

In Sichuan, a Spring Festival journey becomes one of immersion, where ancient customs and unexpected adventures create a uniquely "cool" feel.