The turquoise lakes of Jiuzhaigou: undeniably must-view!

Teaser, aperitif, hour d’oeuvres, and just yesterday your side of garlic bread – done. Now for your first main course of China-2024 (and there’ll be several!)…

Quick recap: we visited quite a few places and saw over 20 natural and historical sites of varying levels of significance and beauty – some of which were simply masterpieces. And that’s what I want to talk about in detail. Where should I start? From the beginning! In what order? As it happened: that’s how I’ll recount it. No need (and no desire) to invent new storytelling formats. “I sing what I see,” as the tundra reindeer herder says…

And so…

We landed in China (the exact location doesn’t matter), cleared passport and customs control, transferred to another flight (some even managed a swim in the warm sea in Sanya and celebrate a birthday along the way), landed (after plenty of turbulence en route), and arrived at Huanglong Airport – at an altitude of nearly 3500 meters above sea-level.

An interesting airport! Right by the baggage-claim area there are small shops selling warm clothing. Many Chinese, who’ve spent their entire lives in warm, even tropical climates, are completely unprepared for the fact it can get cold in the mountains during the fall. In the same area, a pharmacy sells small oxygen cans to similarly unprepared tourists. Although the altitude isn’t extreme, some people find it difficult to breathe.

But enough about the details – we’re here to explore, see, and marvel. So off we popped – straight to Jiuzhaigou (the “Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area”, or just “Jiuzhaigou National Park”), which means “Valley of Nine Villages”. Jiuzhaigou is a mountainous valley where streams and rivers of strikingly beautiful colors flow: a chain of brightly-colored lakes and stunning waterfalls – like this:

And like this:

The waterfalls aren’t the largest in terms of size or water flow, but they’re still absolutely mesmerizing in appearance:

And these are just two out of a dozen waterfalls:

In short – a truly magical place. The first time I was here was back in 2015, and now – after my second visit – I’m dreaming of returning once again!

Here it is on the map, but the details are hard to make out. It’s a mountain valley that splits in two, with its most interesting bits forming a giant inverted letter Y:

The “⅄” measures around 15km from the top down to the split, and then there’s another 15km along each of the lower sections. But don’t be intimidated by the idea of walking the full “94km” on foot, for there are buses available to shuttle lazy tourists quickly to wherever they need to go in/along the inverted Y. So, to calm everyone down, here’s another map free of those daunting annotations:

Breathtaking views await you here!

Some may argue that similar views to those in the above pic can be seen in Altai, Tian Shan, the Alps, and the mountains of Canada and New Zealand. And yes – I’d agree. I specifically chose such a provocative photo where the incredible beauty is veiled by gray skies and rippling water. But when viewed in the right weather – the scenery here becomes truly fantastical:

And like this:

How does the water get so brightly colored? It occurs in mountainous areas where nature adds various minerals to the water. These minerals not only color the water but also foster the growth of certain algae – or suppress aquatic life altogether. This is exactly what happens here. In some places, green algae create vast underwater meadows, while in neighboring lakes, there’s almost no life at all – tree trunks don’t even decay.

The views of these natural oddities are simply breathtaking!

Trees in this water don’t rot, and some even have something growing on them above the waterline ->

Such is the colorful diversity of the lakes here.

A couple more pics before the waterfalls:

A stream flowing amid some kind of aquatic grass:

And here are the waterfalls:

Like I say, not the largest – but there are many of them, and they vary significantly:

Or like this – water just flows downstream somewhere:

A simply magical place!

I highly recommend it to anyone who might find themselves in this part of the world China – especially just after Golden Week ) ->

A few more photos:

Now for some detail from our visit to Jiuzhaigou. Let me rewind back to the start…

The entrance to the park is impressive – typical Chinese grandeur. When I was last here, in 2015, things were much more modest. Now everything’s spacious, fresh, and new. It would appear that, during the pandemic, not all Chinese stayed locked down – some were busy upgrading the tourist infrastructure ->

And the best part (right after Golden Week) – no lines! Looking at these barriers, you immediately understand how long you’d normally have to wait here during peak times. It’s said that the park can handle up to 40,000 visitors daily!

Right at the entrance, it becomes clear that the set-up here is primarily aimed at the Chinese, as they buy tickets online and simply scan their internal ID cards (plastic card-passports). Place the card on the machine, let the camera scan your face – and they’re in. Foreigners, however, are issued classic paper tickets, sold strictly upon presentation of a passport (though you still need to reserve online).

Then it’s onto electric coaches to be taken to the end-point of the inverted Y formation…

Next – it’s time for walkies! If you have the energy, you can trek the entire route on foot (though, as mentioned, that’s 30km each way). There are wooden walkways everywhere, making the going comfortable:

At least there are bilingual signs in place – although they’re often inaccurate with the distances:

The lakes are simply gorgeous. They’re especially stunning on windless, sunny days – but even with variable cloud cover they’re still beautiful:

Onward along the elevated wooden path…

Here’s another lake – brighter and even more colorful:

These two lakes were on one of the “arms” of the “Y”, while the other arm leads tourists to the “Primeval Forest”. I’m not sure what the corresponding Chinese characters mean, but the signs in English simply say Primeval Forest ->

Suddenly – spruce forest. Moss, shrubs, and tall fir trees. It feels like wandering through a forest in the Moscow region in September :) ->

For most Chinese, these scenes are utterly surprising, since they mainly live in tropical and subtropical climates – no fir trees like this there. Instead, they have bamboo and conifers, while such “Russian forests” are an oddity. Why/how do they grow here? It’s simply because the altitude exceeds 3000 meters – giving the ideal climate for fir trees.

After the forest, there are two options: lazy tourists can hop on a bus to the next site, while the more active can continue walking leisurely. Of course, walking is better – especially since the surrounding views are incredibly meditative. The trail is quite comfortable for strolling, too. Kudos to the designers for not cutting down trees unnecessarily for the paths:

A couple of kilometers down, the trail reveals an overgrown body of water:

It’s the aptly-named Grass Lake.

I forgot to mention earlier that, aside from convenient paths and detailed signage, the park comes with an abundance of rest areas with benches. And some spots you can grab a bite to eat ->

The river flowing through the valley is of an absolutely stunning color. Check it out – no Photoshop! ->

A bit further along the path – another overgrown body of water, oddly called Swan Lake…

We didn’t see any swans, but a few ducks were spotted…

To reach the next lake (and the first waterfalls), it’s a 6km hike.

You can take the bus, but I wanted to walk the entire trail myself since my last visit. And we didn’t regret it: the stroll through the quiet, autumnal forest was sublime:

The bark of a certain tree peels off in strips, falling onto the path:

These are the bark-shedding trees (dendrologists – any thoughts?) ->

On and on…

Suddenly – hippophae ->

And something else growing and bearing fruit (dendrologists, any guesses?:) ->

And since we’ve mentioned flora, it’s worth also noting the fauna that munches upon it:

Meanwhile, we arrived at another lake – Arrow Bamboo Lake:

Arrow Bamboo Lake is where a chain of the most beautiful lakes and waterfalls begins.

The primeval forest and the first two lakes can be “optimized” (skipped) if you lack time or energy, but from here, walking becomes an absolute must. And luckily the weather began to improve from this point on :)…

Once again, these lakes have incredible colors…

Arrow Bamboo Lake ends with a limestone wall, from which flows a picturesque waterfall:

The water contains various minerals and limestone, which occasionally form fascinating structures – small basins and pools of different sizes and colors (depending on the other minerals present) and even entire natural dams. You can see similar on the Pamukkale terraces and in Huanglong Valley (I’ll talk about Huanglong in later posts). Similar features can also be found in karst caves.

It seems that in the Jiuzhaigou Valley many of the lakes were formed in much the same way, just on a much larger scale. Here, the water cascades from pools, basins, and dams in numerous waterfalls:

The trail then becomes even more enjoyable – it passes by small waterfalls and streams:

It’s definitely better to walk from lake to lake rather than taking the bus.

Along the way, you can see other small but charming little lakes:

And then comes the next large lake – Panda Lake. Yes, in Chinese characters, it’s literally “Shunmao Hai”, or Panda Lake. Presumably these adorable bears live somewhere nearby.

Absolutely stunning!

Here you can have a rest and a snack:

Next up – perhaps the most magnificent lake in the entire valley: Five-Color Lake. But I think there are more than five colors:

We were told that the minerals in the water suppress active underwater vegetation and slow the decay of trees, which is why you see scenes like this:

A dead tree, yet some sort of shrub is still growing on its trunk ->

Five-Color Lake: mesmerizing ->

Now let’s “dilute the water” with a non-aquatic topic :). For instance, let’s talk about the traditional local costumes, which are available for rent here and are highly popular among Chinese tourists…

Since the main population in these parts consists of Tibetans, I suspect the costumes are also Tibetan. Tourists rent them and wander off in all directions:

Very smart! ->

The next “attraction” is rather unique – a meadow approximately 100×200 meters in size across which water flows like a sheet. It’s called Pearl Shoals (the Chinese love elaborate names) ->

Naturally, there’s a walkway for enthusiastic tourists to stroll along and capture the landscapes on their devices:

Pearl Meadow ends with an equally wonderful waterfall:

We admired the views, and continued down the path past streams and smaller waterfalls…

…Toward the next Jiuzhaigou wonder – Mirror Lake ->

On windless days, everything reflects off the lake just like a mirror (as I described in my 2015 post). But not this time…

Still beautiful!

And onward we go:

Another waterfall with a Tibetan name – Nuorilang: over 300 meters wide and considered one of the largest in China:

Here we reached the park’s central area where the roads intersect in the middle of the Y shape. To here – 15km covered. Time for a break before we continue on our way… Just kidding. We were just about done for this day. Which goes to show – you need a few days, if not several, to do Jiuzhaigou justice…

Further down toward the park’s entrance/exit, the cascade of lakes, waterfalls, and streams continues. And it’s all just as stunning:

If you look closely, you’ll notice a footpath among the trees – that’s the path you’re supposed to take, not the main road used by tour buses and local residents.

The views remain just as breathtaking:

Here are Buddhist prayer wheels, spun by flowing water:

The day had been packed with sightseeing, so it’s no surprise that our group split into smaller parties, exploring in slightly different ways but in the same general direction. For example, the intrepid OZ and DZ decided to visit a village across the road:

The village turned out to be quite tourist-friendly. Not surprising given the daily influx of thousands of visitors.

This is what a mountain village in China looks like:

Meanwhile, we kept moving lower, when suddenly… birch trees! Not the most common sight in China: an informational plaque was placed to explain their presence :) ->

Next – more lakes, waterfalls, and scenic views in all directions…

Here are remnants of an old tourist trail. You can see how thoroughly the Chinese construct everything here:

Signposts everywhere:

And these types of footbridges cross streams and rivers:

And that’s about it. There were still about five kilometers left to the exit, but there was nothing particularly notable worth mentioning – the best sights are higher up in the valley, which we’ve already explored. Time to hop on the coach and process our impressions.

In total, we probably walked around 40km over two days. But we don’t regret a single step! Though we were a little tired:

And here’s where we were staying that night:

Although this is rural China, it’s still a tourist hub – so there’s no shortage of hotels here…

This was our first overnight stay. Over the course of the trip, we stayed in 11 (!) different hotels!

A few atmospheric PS-pics from the Valley of Nine Villages:

And that’s all from Jiuzhaigou National Park. But this is only the beginning of our nearly three-week journey – ahead lie two dozen more places of varying levels of splendor and contemplative beauty.

The rest of the photos from our China-2024 trip are here.