SiChuan - JiuZhai National Park 九寨沟

6/30/2014 Sichuan, Jiuzhai National Park (九寨沟)

Tibetan Buddhist temple

Aaron:

 

Tibetan village

turn the wish wheel

Jiuzhaigou National Park (九寨沟) is a nature reserve. It is famous for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes. Jiuzhai Valley lies at the end of the Minshan mountain range (岷山山脉). The remote region was inhabited by nine various villages of Tibetan (藏族) and Qiang (羌族) peoples for centuries. There are only four villages open to the public so far. People still live there.

Virgin forest

arrow bamboo lake

The tour bus route is shaped like a Y. Our trip started in the right side of the Y’s tip, the  Virgin Forest (原始森林). It is around 2500 meters above sea level. We walked all the way down the Y. The next stop was Arrow Bamboo Lake (箭竹海). The lake's name comes from its bamboo shoots shaped like an arrow. If you are lucky, you might see a wild panda munching on the shoots.

arrow bamboo lake

panda lake

Our 3rd stop was Panda Lake (熊猫海). The lake name comes from a legend. The story is about a silly panda drinking the crystal clear water from that lake. He saw his reflection from the lake. He thought it was another panda stealing his water. He played around with his reflection. He went away when he was exhausted. Later, he went back to check whether the other panda was still there. After he returned, he started drinking again. So he kept on drinking and drinking.

pearl shoal beach

pearl shoal beach waterfall

Then we visited Five Flower Lake (五花海), Five Color Lake (五彩池), Mirror Lake (镜海), Long Lake (长海), Pearl Shoal Beach (珍珠滩) and Pearl Shoal Beach Waterfall (珍珠滩瀑布).

The most enormous waterfall is the Nuorilang Waterfall (诺日朗瀑布), one of the China's widest waterfall. It is 2365 meters above sea level. Waterfall is 270 meters in width and 24.5 meter in height.

nuorilang waterfall, the greatest among all

The park is so big. Our one day tour is not enough. We cannot complete all our journey by walk. We decided to take the tour bus to go all around the Y. I wish we could come back again.



long lake

Gordon:

five flower lake

On an early morning, we went to Jiuzhaigou National Park. It was big and beautiful. There were lots of lakes. The colorful water is surrounded by the mountains.

mirror lake

The water in Mirror Lake is clean and clear. It is so clean that you can see the bottom of the lake. It is also very clear that it can reflect the mountain with trees in details like a mirror.

wear ha da

Tibetan village

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to visit  Tibetan village.  The people in the village wore red scarfs. The food was yummy. After eating, we swung our scarf while dancing around the campfire.

Jiuzhaigou was the biggest and the most beautiful mountain I have ever seen.

dinner at Tibetan village