In The Land Of The Lakes

Tue, Dec 22, 2009

Jiuzhaigou:

Jiuzhaighou (meaning ‘Valley of Nine Villages’) is a nature reserve located in the Sichuan province in south-western China. Jiazhaighou has been declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1997. The valley covers an area of 720 square kilometres with an additional 600 square kilometer as buffer zone. It lies at the south of the Minshan Mountains and is part of the Jiuzhaighou County. It is also one of the sources of the Jialing River. The Sichuan provincial Commission for Construction governs Jiuzhaigou. Jiuzhaigou resembles the famous Yosemite park in the United States.

Country Info:

China (People’s Republic of China) is the largest country in Asia (96,40,821 square kilometres) and is the third largest country in the world. China is bordered by Mongolia in the north, Russia in the north, North Korea in the east, Vietnam, Laos, Myamnar, Bhutan, Nepal and India in the south, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the south west and Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in the west. South China Sea and East China Sea lie to the south-east while Yellow Sea lies to the east of China. Taiwan or the People’s Republic of China lies off the south-east coast of China. National currency is Yuan. National capital is Beijing.

Sichuan:

Sichuan is one of the provinces of the People’s Republic of China located in the south-western part of the country. The province is 4,85,000 square kilometres in area and its capital is Chengdu. The province is bordered by Hubei, Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu, Guizhou, Yunnan and Gansu.

Geography and climate of Sichuan:

Sichuan is surrounded by the Himalayas to the west, Qinling range to the north, and the high regions of Yunnan to the south. The Yangtze River flows through the Sichuan basin while the Minjiang River in central Sichuan is a tributary of the upper Yangtze River.

The climate in Sichuan also is varies. The Sichuan Basin in the east experiences a subtropical monsoon climate with long, warm and humid summers and short, cold, dry and cloudy winters. The western areas, on the other hand, have a mountainous climate characterised by very cold winters and mild summers. The southern part of the province also has a subtropical climate.

Geography and climate at Jiuzhaigou:

The elevation of the Jiuzhaigou Valley varies between a minimum of 2,000 square metres (near Shuzheng Gully) to a maximum of 4,800 square metres (on Mount Ganzigonggai at Zechawa Gully). The climate in the valley is mainly cool temperate with a mean annual temperature of 7 degree Celsius. Total annual rainfall is 661 mm (occurs mainly between May and October).

Jiuzhaighou was a remote, largely unexplored region till recently. It was inhabited by the Tibetan and Qiang population. The place was officially discovered in 1972 but soon it fell prey to extensive logging activities. The Chinese government had banned logging activities and set up a national park in 1982. From the mid 1980s, the importance of Jiazhaigou as a tourist destination steadily rose with over a lakh visitors flocking it every year.

Flora:

The Jiuzhaigou Valley mainly features temperate broad-leaf forest and woolands. The valley is home to rhododendron and bamboo varieties. During autumn, the colourful hues of the valley forest make it all the more attractive for the tourists.

Fauna:

Jiuzhaigou is home to the endangered giant panda and the golden snub-nosed monkey. Besides, 140 bird species are also spotted in this valley forest.

Attractions of Jiuzhaigou:

Colourful lakes, which are known as ‘Haizi’ in Chinese.
Valleys (Rize, Shuhzheng and Zechwa). To explore these places, the tourists first undertake a bus journey to the end of Rize and Shuzheng gully and then go downhill by foot. They can take a bus if the next visiting point is located far off.
Rize Valley (18 km) features a large number of lakes like Swan Lake, Grass Lake, Panda lake, Arrow bamboo Lake, Five Flower Lake, Miror lake and others
Zechawa Valley (the southeastern branch of Jiuzhaigou and length same to that of the Rize Valley) also features lakes like Long Lake, The Seasonal Lakes and Five-Color Pond. Both the Rize and Zechawa Valleys were made by glaciers.

Shuzheng Valley (this 14 km long gully/valley is the northern branch of Jiuzhaigou) featuring: Reed Lake, Nuorilang Falls, Nuorilang Lakes (numbering between 18-19)
Zharu Valley ecotourism centre
Fairy Pool
Pearl Waterfall

Huanglong: A beautiful location which also boasts historic importance in Songpan County.

Activities:

Hiking
Camping
Walking trails

How to reach Jiuzhaigou:

By air:Reaching Jiuzhaigou Huanglong Airport located at an altitude of over 11,000 feet near Songpan County. From the airport, one can either reach Huanglong by an hour-long journey or Jiuzhaigou by an hour-and-half long journey by road. Recently, new flights have been started connecting Jiuzhaigou from Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

By road: Accessing Jiuzhaigou by road takes time. From Chengdu, it takes 10 hours by bus to reach the valley. The road along the Minjiang River Canyon is prone to mudslides during the monsoon. The new highway along this route was damaged by the earthquake of 2008 but has been repaired. Zhangzha and Songpan are the nearest towns to Jiuzhaigou.