arrive in the morning, explore and leave around late afternoon.
First ever attempt at a Chengdu<>Jiuzhai daytrip 😛
There are flights to JiuZhaiGou from Chengdu, however, it’s typically seen as a 3 day thing – 2 nights at a hotel, or at a ‘locals house’ which is easily arranged. You may be able to cram it into a day, but there is more to do than to walk a path around part of the scenic lake and if you want to experience the place, it’s a good idea to experience it rather than spend a starbucks meeting worth of time there.
The cost for a driver in your circumstance would mean it needs to be a minivan, as no personal vehicles would accommodate the number of people, have you looked at trains, planes, and a proper multi-day trip? Or is this a weird must-be-1-day thing, because as an avid remote camper I can tell you, it wont be cheap getting a minivan to drive odd hours to JZG to/from Chengdu on the exact hours you need, if you can even find a person willing/capable of accommodating that kind of unique request.