Labahe (Laba River) Scenic Area is a national forest park and nature reserve located in Yaan of Sichuan. It is good place to see sub-tropical forests and wildlife in Sichuan. Labahe is a very good place to watch birds and one of the best locations in China to see Red Pandas in certain seasons. Photography lovers also consider this place being a wonderful autumn color scenery place in Sichuan.
Erlang Mountain Labahe River Tourist Attraction is located in Tianquan County, Ya'an City, Sichuan Province, with Kangding and Luding in the west, Baoxing in the north and Chengdu 180 kilometers in the east. By driving it takes around 3.5hours to get to from Chengdu. Labahe Park(Labahe Nature Reserve) is located deep inside the mountains of Erlangshan (in Qionglai Range). There are no public bus/train available to Labahe. You are recommended to hire a car from Chengdu for convenience.
In general we recommend you to travel by winter season from November to the next April for wildlife watching. May and June are the best seasons for bird watching.
Although the best season to see wild life is different depending on your targeted animals. Labahe is famous for its Red Pandas and Chinese Monal. But there is also chance to see other wildlife.
Red Pandas are easier to see from late August to November when they climb trees eating berries although other seasons also possible but with lower chance.
Golden Monkeys with higher chance of spotting from November to the next March/April.
Tibetan Macaques possible in every season.
Giant Panda is very hard but the highest chance is winter and spring from November to the next May. In 2025 late April to early May there has been a record of over 5 times giant pandas being spotted from the cable car.
Birds are active in May and June. Chinese Monal with higher chance in April, May and June. The other seasons have lower chance but still possible.
Please note there are 2 waves of tourists in Labahe each year. For animal/bird lovers you may want to avoid these periods of tourist waves if possible. First wave is by July-August during summer school vacation when lots of families, school students groups will be visiting Labahe. The second wave is in October from the 1st week holiday til the end of Oct when the mountains will be colorful due to change of color in autumn. Although most October visitors don’t stay inside the park.
There are two main parts of the park in Labage, the lower valley along the river by the east where the hotels are located, the other is the north part that involves using tourist bus and cable cars to visit. The lower part in the river valley is at the elevation between 1900m and 2100m. The north part is between 2000m and 3700m. The road (for tourist bus only) goes to around 2700m and the cable car goes to 3500m and another 3km boardwalk by foot after cable car can get you to the highest part of Labahe by around 3700m.
The forest coverage rate of Labahe is 84.6%, and it has the reputation of "natural oxygen bar". It is mainly composed of evergreen tree species such as fir, hemlock, Tianshi chestnut, spruce, and Emei fir. The park has ancient geology and peculiar topography. It has a characteristic ecological environment of southern subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest. It maintains a good original style, complete distribution of plants, ancient flora and fauna. There are many nationally protected species in the scenic area. It is known that there are more than 1,500 species of vascular plants in 68 families, 380 genera, and 206 species of vertebrates in the park. It is part of the national key protected rare tree species including Davidia involucrata (national first level), water green tree, Lianxiang tree, nanmu, ginkgo and other 18 species. Animals are the national first and second level protected animals include giant panda (national treasure), Sichuan takin, golden snub-nosed monkeys, leopard cat, Chinese Monal, red pandas, forest musk deer, macaque, samber dear, etc.
Red Pandas: Labahe is one of the best places to see Red Pandas in China. The best seasons to see Red Pandas is from second half of August to November when the bush/tree berries become ripe and red pandas go searching the berries on the trees and it’s very easy to see one even from the cable cars. Best locations to see red pandas in Labahe is by around/above cable car lower station at the elevation of around 2500m-2700m. Red Pandas usually like the sunny side of the mountain.
Red Panda in Labahe (late August)
Chinese Monal: Chinese Monal is one of the most beautiful endemic birds in China and are possible to be spotted in any seasons with higher chance in Spring and early summer. The location to see Chinese Monal is at cable car upper station at around 3500m and above. Some seasons the monals wonder down to the boardwalk and you may see them in the distance of meters usually in the morning before 10am. In 2025 May almost everyday local rangers see Chines Monal in close range.
Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys: Golden monkeys are possible to be seen by around lower cable car station in Labahe by the mountain ridge 2km west to the lower cable car station and at even lower places near Luming hotel near Guanmenshi Waterfall by around 2000m. They have been spotted also by above Blue Crystal hotel near the river valley. They usually move in groups and have been seen in different seasons by different locations. The higher chance season is from November to the next April. The total number of Golden Snub-nosed Monkey is estimated to be around 50-60 total in 4-5 families in Labahe.
Asiastic Black Bear has been spotted but the chance is low. The recent location Black Bear was spotted is by NE to Luming hotel near Ganhaizi Lake. The season to watch Black Bear is from April to October. Chance of seeing a Black Bear is very low.
Giant Panda is rare but we have seen records of spotting in 2025. The place Giant Panda was spotted was between the cable car terminals from the cable car in April and May. Now visitors are not allowed to walk the trail between the cable car terminals. Another place giant panda has been spotted is by Red Rock Valley at around 2500m. Please note the chance of seeing a giant panda is very low.
Sichuan Takinusually wander around the “Panda Trail” but their number is not great and the chance of seeing them is also low.
Lady Arhmersts Pheasant
Tibetan Macaque
Samber in Labahe
possible wildlife include: Red Panda (high chance), Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys (low chance), Giant Panda (rare, from the cable car);
Possible wildlife include: Chinese Monal (high chance), Himalayan Blue Sheep (low chance), lamageier (low chance);
(long walking involved, not recommended if one doesn’t wish to walk), possible wildlife include: Sichuan Takin (low chance), Giant Panda (Rare), Samber Dear (high chance), White Pheasant (low chance), Chinese tuft deer (low chance), Forest Musk Deer (rare);
(night watch possible), possible wildlife include: Samber Dear (high chance), Macaque(high chance), Golden Snub-nose Monkeys (low chance), Asiastic Black Bear(rare), Palm Civet (low chance), leopard cat (low chance).
(night watch possible), possible wildlife include: Samber Dear (high chance), Macaque(high chance), Palm Civet (low chance), leopard cat (low chance), Yellow-throated marten (low chance).
We recommend you to plan for 1-3 nights in Labahe in general for wildlife watch. You can extend for more days if you have a specific targeted wildlife.
It is hard to come at a season that is best for all wildlife in Labahe. In general we recommend you the season from November to the next April when the animals tend to go lower by where cars can get to for better spotting. If Red Panda is your main targeted wildlife then we recommend you to come by from end August to October at the highest chance season.
The upper part of Labahe where red pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys, Chinese monals, or even giant pandas are possible, has a limit for early morning watch and late afternoon watch because private cars are not allowed in this part.
The foggy weather is a challenge for wildlife watch in Labahe. Foggy weather can happen at a chance of 30-40% in general but in winter foggy weather is less than summer.
Night Tour is available and organized by the park of Labahe in certain seasons.
Entrance Ticket: CNY55 per person;
Tourist Bus:CNY35 per person
Cable Car:CNY100 per person
Recommended time to Spend:4 hours to 4 days
Business Hour:08:00-18:00 / overnight visitors no restrictions for the lower part, the higher part is not open except between 8am-6pm;
Tourist Line: 0835-5995555, 0835-5995999
There are 2 hotels available inside Labahe but these hotels are more like on the economy side even through their price is not cheap. Staying inside the park is recommended if you wish to watch the animals/birds. These are Luming Hotel, Blue Crystal Hotel. These hotels can take foreigners and provide simple breakfast. Outside of Labahe there are no good hotels nearby. The closest place where you can find good hotels is in Yaan City that is around 2 hours drive away, which makes the animal-watching very hard. We recommend you to stay by these 2 hotels.
1, Early morning and late afternoon are good timing for animal/bird watching, you are recommended to stay night/nights inside the park. There are 2 hotels to choose inside the park.
2, You are also recommended to hire a car to go with you since public transport is not possible to get you to Labahe.
3, The cable car usually starts after 8am but can operate early under request if group size over 10 people.
4, We suggest you to avoid summer time(July- 25 August) since it’s neither a good season for wildlife, nor a safe season for driving due to possible rain and landslide.
5, no local wildlife guide is available in Labahe.
Route: Chengdu - Yaan - Chengdu
Route: Chengdu/ Yaan / Wolong / Chengdu
Route: Chengdu - Yaan - Mt. Gongga Hailuogou - Chengdu
