In heart of ancient Taoist mountains
Offering proximity to both the sacred Taoist peak from which it takes its name and some of the best panda conservation centres in China, Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain is located just 70 kilometres from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, in the eastern foothills of Qing Cheng Mountain. Here, despite such proximity to Chengdu, the pace is slower, the weather milder and the sounds softer. Arriving at the resort, you can’t help but feel a sense of calm, as if you’ve travelled to another (gentler) time and place.
A fairytale Chinese village of old
Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain was designed by Bangkok-based Habita Architects, who were also behind various other Six Senses resorts, including the dreamy Six Senses Yao Noi. Habita’s design pays homage to traditional Chinese garden architecture and is underpinned by a respectful gaze to the transcendental mountain that looms in the background, with buildings integrated subtly with the landscape.
The layout of the resort grounds was designed in accordance with Feng Shui principles and emphasises harmonious visual connections between mountain, water, nature, and buildings. The Welcome Pavillion (pictured below) epitomises this: it is accessed from an ascending and bamboo-lined avenue and appears like bridge, with the main hall suspended between two mountains. From here, you can enjoy a panoramic view over the tiled resort roofscape. As Habita, the architects, put it: “it is as though the visitor has arrived at a secret village, humbly located at the foot of Mount Qing Cheng.”
Sustainability from the ground up
If there is one thing that is unique about Six Senses, it’s the focus on sustainability. Disposable plastic bottled water makes way for onsite filtered water in glass bottles. The recycling bins are divided into four separate categories. And the air is naturally cleansed by the dense bamboo groves that line the resort’s gracefully curving paths.
Visiting the panda homeland
Six Senses is within an easy day trip of three of the most natural and least touristed (although that is still relative!) panda reserves in Sichuan (or China for that matter). In ascending order of distance, these reserves are: Dujiangyan Panda Ark (都江堰中华大熊猫苑) (10 minutes’ drive), Dujiangyan Panda Valley (都江堰熊猫谷) (30 minutes’ drive) and the Shenshuping Panda Base of Wolong Panda Reserve (卧龙中华大熊猫苑神树坪基地) (1 hour and 30 minutes’ drive).
We did day trips to the second and third of these panda reserves and both were more than worthwhile and a highlight of any trip to the region. Panda Valley is smaller, busier and more landscaped than Wolong, with one or two well-defined walking routes winding through a series of indoor and outdoor enclosures, like a humane and natural zoo. Wolong is larger, less visited, less polished, more remote and clearly more focused on conservation and breeding than presentation. Of the two, Wolong was our favourite because it featured more pandas and the opportunity to get closer to the pandas and compare their different characters. That said, if you are pushed for time, Panda Valley is an excellent choice as well. In an ideal world, you should visit both!
Farm-to-table: a Six Senses signature
Consistent with the focus on sustainability, another Six Senses signature is an emphasis on locally sourced foods. This commitment is visible in the most literal sense: here, as with other Six Senses resorts, home-grown vegetables, eggs laid by the resident resort chickens and in-house mushroom cultivation are de rigeur.
Mouth-numbing and spicy!
Here in Sichuan, the provenance-focused ethos that drives Six Senses’ approach to F&B translates into lots of málà – a Chinese word to describe the distinctive numbing nature and spiciness of the local food. At breakfast at Farm2Fork, the resort’s all day dining restaurant, the chefs will whip up for you a fresh plate of Sichuan noodle staples (think dan dan mian) and it’s impossible to go past the panda-themed steamed red bean buns. Rounding out the restaurant offerings here are the simple Zi Qi Yuan, which churns out local classics like mapo tofu and gong bao chicken, and the romantic Sala Thai, which offers panoramic views over the resort from the circular building adjacent to the Welcome Pavillion.
Facilities designed for tranquility and relaxation
It wouldn’t be a Six Senses with a spa – so integral to the brand’s ethos are spas that there are even standalone Six Senses Spas in hotels run by other operators! Here, the outdoor pool (with its quaint mini-island gardens), indoor lap pool and spa are arranged in a vertical line connected via tunnels – another expression of those Feng Shui-driven architectural principles. As you would expect, it is the perfect space for moments of quiet reflection.
Every Six Senses resort has its iconic ice cream pavilion, where you can get free homemade ice cream and fresh fruits anytime of the day!
You can make your own herbal mix to take home, sample fresh local tea and shop traditional Chinese Hanfu clothing.
Chinese classical form meets Six Senses barefoot luxury
The 113 guest rooms and villas here are arranged in small clusters and rows. Constructed from clay roof tiles, natural plaster, and natural timber gable ends, each unit is oriented to provide both privacy and as clear a view to the mountain as possible. We stayed in a Courtyard Hot Spring Suite, a 105 sqm L-shaped space wrapped around a private courtyard with a jacuzzi. The interiors are contemporary and are furnished in Six Senses’ trademark barefoot luxury style, with weathered wooden furniture, bright textiles and a rough-hewn stone bathroom.
In a nod to traditional Chinese courtyard design, our front door opened onto a larger courtyard, which served as a common area for the other suites forming part of the same building. In the centre of this courtyard there were arranged chairs and a contemplative water feature – the perfect spot to sip tea as the sun rises. With the sticky summer temperature, the outdoor jacuzzi was off limits during our stay, but it would surely be an ideal spot to while away some hours in the cooler months as the mountain mist swirls around.
