Jiuzhaigou - Fairytale Land on Earth
I first saw Jiuzhaigou on a documentary called Wild China back in 2007, and the few minutes I saw of this extraordinary place, made me want to see it for myself. It is a magical area lying on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, full of impressive waterfalls, jade coloured lakes containing calcified trees, surrounded by a colourful dense forest and the snow capped Min Mountains. It took years to find a tour that included this remote part of China - a hidden valley that was inaccessible and only really discovered in the 1970's. Jiuzhaigou means Valley of the Nine Villages, and these ancient Tibetan villages are still there within the park - which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as a World Biosphere Reserve. This was the reason I had come to China and I was so excited about seeing the place the Chinese call Fairy tale Land on Earth. When I arrived, the rain was torrential and there were thousands of visitors queuing at the entrance - I did hope I wasn't going to be disappointed. But I needn't have worried! My group had a great guide who ensured we saw the most impressive sights and that no-one got lost - especially when the special park buses arrived and 500 people scrambled to get onto one, that only held 70!
Follow my day around this spectacular place, where every lake and mountain sounds magical, picturesque and captivating.....................
The autumn colours were beginning to brighten up the dull day..................
We walked along the wooden boardwalk to the next lake and even though it was still raining and the clouds were low, the colours were beginning to shine through.
After stopping for lunch at the only place that did food in the park; the sun came out and Jiuzhaigou became my Fairy tale on Earth - just look at the photographs...................
I had been worried about the right time of year to see this place at its best, and for me that had to be autumn. The end of October was the most perfect time; the leaves had developed their autumn glow and the surrounding forest was a patchwork of autumnal colours, gold, orange, crimson and green. Against the incredible colour of the water, the view was everything I had wanted it to be.
There were so many different lakes; every one had there own individual type of beauty, whether it be the reflections of the trees and mountains, the shade of the water, what you could see lying underneath the water, and the colours of the leaves on the branches. They had names such as Rhinoceros Lake, Panda Lake, Five Flower Lake, Mirror Lake, Swan Lake, Arrow Bamboo Lake and many others.
Sometimes it was hard to tell if you were looking at things in the water or in the sky!!!!
I couldn't resist this..............................A memento I bought at the lunch stop.
We crossed Golden Bell Lake by a wooden walkway and arrived at the top of a 160 metre wide expanse of water, a thundering cascade known as Pearl Shoal Waterfall. The noise was immense. The view was completely breath-taking, especially with rays of sunlight shining through the pine trees - it was like nothing I had expected here - an real surprise.
It was nearly time to leave the park, and a last walk down the Shuzheng Valley road, where the blue water flowed through thick shrubs and bushes making many more lakes and ponds along the way. These were very different to the ones we had seen earlier in the day, but still very special in their own way - even more shades of blue and green. You could never imagine so many different colours of water or so many different coloured trees and bushes - on one day and within one park.
The day was almost over, it had been the most memorable day - one I had waited for for many years.
Shuzheng (Tibetan) Village
I hope you enjoyed visiting this very special place with me - it really is one of the most scenic places I have ever visited and I am so glad to have been able to share it with you all.
Thank you
Lynne
Lynne
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