Jiuzhaigou National Park is to China as the Grand Canyon or Yosemite is to the United States- a spectacular national treasure as beautiful and unique as anywhere on earth. This UNESCO World Heritage Site consists of a mountain valley that has been crafted to perfection by the destructive forces of earthquakes, which caused landslides that damned up spring-fed watersheds and formed a chain of brilliant-blue lakes. I was heartbroken last August to hear that the park was severely damaged by the most recent earthquake which registered 7.0 on the Richter scale. The disaster claimed 25 lives and injured over 500 people, and did substantial damage to many of the natural features and park infrastructure. Visiting the park is a key part of the itinerary for Natural Habitat China Expeditions, and it was closed to visitors for the fall trips, but to our relief it was reopened to limited visitation right before our spring trips. I had no idea what to expect and was afraid of seeing once spectacular geologic features in ruin, but was overjoyed when I could hardly tell that anything had happened. Some regions of the park are still closed, but we saw enough for this visit to make a trip highlight. The entire park should be open for our fall expeditions, when autumn foliage will be spectacular.
The mountains in the park rise to nearly 15,000 feet.
The watershed of the valley is made up of many beautiful lakes with crystal clear spring water. Due to calcium carbonate, the water shows a spectacular turquoise color on clear, sunny days. Legend has it that long ago Dago, the mountain God was in love with the goddess Semo, and he gave her a mirror that was made from wind and cloud. The devil appeared and frightened Semo who broke the mirror into 108 pieces, which fell down to the earth as 108 colorful lakes.
The lakes, such as Mirror Lake, provide beautiful reflections on clear, calm mornings.
These lakes are home to a unique and very rare species of fish, called the Songpan Naked Carp, which has no scales because of the extreme concentration of calcium carbonate in the water. These minerals would precipitate on the surface of the fish if their skin wasn’t completely smooth.
Songpan naked carp.
The contrast of the lush lakeside vegetation against the brilliant blue water is truly mesmerizing and a dream for nature photographers.
This region of Sichuan hosts many native species of azaleas and rhododendrons which bloom at varying times of the spring and summer depending on the altitude.
One of my favorite parts of visiting Jiuzhaigou is walking through the unique alpine forest, which is made up of various conifers, arrow bamboo and Chinese Red Birch. Tibetan prayer flags are in the background.
Chinese red birch with Colorful Lake in the background.
There are many stunning waterfalls in the park. At some point in history earthquake-induced landslides dammed up the drainages and caused “earthquake lakes.” The water spills over the top and creates a waterfall, but instead of cutting a channel into the rock, calcium carbonate precipitates out, building up the channel and forcing the water to spread out. This process makes for some of the most unique and stunning waterfalls on earth. As of May 2018 most of the waterfalls were still closed and Noorilong Falls was dry. My friends tell me that by this fall these spots will be once again open, and engineers actually plugged a new crack and brought Noorilong Falls back to normal.
Arrow bamboo falls is my favorite waterfall on earth. It was closed to the public in May but is scheduled to be open sometime this summer.
Pearl Shoals Waterfall.
Jiuzhaigou means “valley of nine villages,” as there are nine tiny Tibetan villages dotted throughout the valley. Many of the buildings were being repaired as of April 2018 from the August 2017 earthquake. There are many prayer flags which whisper Buddhist prayers as the wind blows them.
A Tibetan woman spins prayer wheels at a village in the park. There are around 1000 Tibetans who live in the 9 villages inside the Park.
Tibetan resident in Jiuzhaigou.
A chinese woman dresses in traditional Tibetan dress to pose for a photo shoot. It is always exciting to see Chinese travelers fulfilling their fantasies of seeing a place that is so legendary in their culture.
Jiuzhaigou is a popular place for newly married couples to visit to get their wedding photos in some of the most stunning landscapes on earth.
Preparing for a wedding photo shoot.
While pandas, takin, and snow leopards inhabit the park, mammals are really seen in Jiuzhaigou. There is great bird watching, however. This is a white-capped water redstart.
Warbler.
Elliot’s Laughing Thrush. These are common, friendly and curious birds of the high altitude forest that remind me of Canada Jays.
This is Long Lake, which we visited on this past trip. Sitting at 10,000 feet above sea level, it is the deepest lake in Park (300 feet), and is 5 miles long. There is no outlet draining the lake, so the water percolates into the earth and re-emerges in the valleys as clear, mineral rich spring water. The local villagers swear that there is a dragon-like monster in the lake.
Our visit to Jiuzhaigou was spectacular even though we weren’t able to see some of the famous waterfalls. There were certainly less crowds than normal, and it often felt like we had the park to ourselves. It was a relief to see that the park is recovering, and will be fully recovered within a few months. I am very excited to visit the park in late October this year to see the legendary fall colors of Jiuzhaigou.
1 Comment
Hi ! Is the park open now? I will be visiting on August 2019.
Thank you!