Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Baoguo Village and Teddy Bear Hotel


Baoguo Village is basically the base camp for Mount Emei. This is the location where the bus station to Emei Shan is situated. It is also the home of Teddy Bear Hotel but where is Baoguo Village?

In my original plan, I would travel from Xinnanmen Bus Station in Chengdu to Leshan City in the morning to visit Leshan Giant Buddha. After the visit, I would travel to Baoguo Village in the afternoon and stay overnight in Teddy Bear Hotel. Early the next morning, I would go to Mount Emei and stay another night at Teddy Bear if I like Mount Emei. However, I was not sure how I could get to Baoguo Village from Leshan City. Which bus station in Leshan City should I go to? Were there regular buses and where do I get off to find Teddy Bear Hotel? How do I get to Mount Emei from Teddy Bear Hotel? This was information which I could not find on the web.

Fortunately, I found some information at Traffic Inn. At the lobby/ reading corner, I found flyers from Teddy Bear Hotel, with instructions to guests on how to get to Teddy Bear Hotel from Leshan City and Emei Shan City. You can find the same information on Teddy Bear Hotel website at http://www.teddybear.com.cn/faq_en.htm. I did not know about this website until I saw the flyers.

As a summary, visitors going to Teddy Bear Hotel should go to Baoguo Village. From Emei Shan City Bus Station, take a taxi to Baoguo Village. You can also take an unlicensed shared van (mian bao che) for RMB5 per passenger but it is at your own risks. I am not sure whether there are buses going into Baoguo Village but the bus from Baoguo Village Bus Station to Leshan Xiaoba Bus Station that I took stopped at Emei Shan City bus station for a minute or two to pick up passengers. It is possible the same is true for buses coming in the opposite direction.

For those coming from Leshan City, they should take the bus from Leshan Xiaoba Bus Station to Baoguo Village. I understand there were two other bus stations so make sure you are the right bus station.

Baoguo Village has just one main street, stretching from the village square to the entrance archway. After your taxi or bus enters the entrance archway, you would see a row of shop houses on the left. Teddy Bear Hotel lies one block before Baoguo Bus Station but because it does not face the main street, you are likely to miss it. It is at a side street.

Wherever you are dropped off in Baoguo Village, you would not get lost. From end to end, it is only about five minutes' walk. Just stay on the main street and watch out for the Bus Station. Teddy Bear Hotel is just one block away, between the bus station and the entrance archway.

The direction map from Teddy Bear Hotel. Click to enlarge
The relative positions of Emei Shan City and Baoguo Village. Click to enlarge the map
Click to enlarge
The following is a sequence of photos, starting from Baoguo Village Square until the Baoguo Village entrance archway.





This is the main street in Baoguo Village.



I bought my steamed buns here

Behind the building is the bus parking area

You might miss Teddy Bear from the main road as it is on a side street






 
Teddy Bear Hotel

I must really applaud Andy and his team for providing such excellent service to its guests. True to its promise of assisting guests in finding the hotel, Bella who worked at the reception came on foot to my rescue when I called. The tout whose van I boarded had decided to take me to another hostel even though I told him I wanted to go to Teddy Bear Hotel.










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