Huanglong National Park - Unmissable Site Near Jiuzhaigou

Brief Introduction

Huanglong National Park, or Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area is located in Songpan County of Aba, Sichuan Province. It is famous for colorful travertine lakes and ponds, sinuous deep mountain valleys, magnificent snow mountains and mysterious peaceful wild forests, which has made the park known as “Wonder on the World” and “Heaven on the Earth”. Many influential reputations favored Huanglong National Park, including the World Natural Heritage Site, World Biosphere Reserve, Green Globes 21, etc.

Huanglong National Park consists of Huanglong Valley, Danyu Gorge, Xuebao Peak ang Munigou Valley. But so far, only the Huanglong Valley and Munigou Valley are well-maintained sites, other two are only visited by adventurers.

Huanglong Valley Location & Transportation

1.Where is the Huanglong Valley located

Huanglong Valley is located in northwestern Sichuan Province, by the side of Pingsong Road, Songpan County, Aba Autonomous Region. It is about 370km’s driving from Chengdu, 110km from Jiuzhaigou Valley and about 50km from Jiuzhaigou Huanglong Airport. 

2.How to transfer to Huanglong National Park

Train

With the opening of Zhenjiangguan Railway Station 镇江关站, Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou by high-speed rail became the most welcomed way of travel. It’s cheaper than travel by air and comfortable than a long-hour road trip. Currently, there are around 3 runs per day, and the traffic time only costs 1.5 hours. Zhenjiangguan Station is still some distance away from Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou (1.5~2.5 hours driving), so travelers are recommended to a pre-book private car to explore the two sites.

Flight

Travelers can get to Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport by flight from Chengdu, Chongqing. The flight routes from other cities such as Xian, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Mianyang are about to open soon. Chengdu – Jiuzhaigou Huanglong Airport is the busiest line with usually 2 flights each day (more in peak season, less in off season). Chongqing is also a popular gateway hub to Jiuzhaigou with about 2 flights each day. Other cities can’t guarantee daily or frequent flights to the airport. The airport is only about 50km to Huanglong Scenic Area. Most tourists will visit both Jiuzhai Valley and Huanglong.

Driving

The shortest driving route is 370km from Chengdu, via Dujiangyan, Wenchuan, Maoxian, Songopan, to Huanglong. Road is well paved with good traffic condition. Some travelers drive from far northern Lanzhou to Huanglong with the whole distance of 650km.

Bus

Travelers can also take bus from Cha Dianzi Bus Station (茶店子客运站) or Xin Nanmen Bus Station (新南门客运站) to Songpan or ChuanZhusi, then transfer to Huanglong. The bus journey usually takes about 7~8 hours.

Sites to See in Huanglong Valley

Huanglong Valley is a 7.5 kilometers long, 1.5 kilometers wide gentle-slope valley on the Xuebao Peak (Xuebao Snow Mountain). Vast yellow travertine landforms exist in the valley, and look like a yellow dragon. This is how the valley gained the name as Huanglong (Yellow Dragon). The travertine scenery was created by the thousands years of geological evolution, including glacial revolution, terrane movement, chemical reaction, climate changing, etc. It covers a total length of 3.6 kilometers. The best featured landscapes in the valley are travertine banks and waterfalls, colorful ponds, caves, etc. 

Welcome Pool (Yingbing Pool) – entering the gate of Huanglong Valley, travelers will be welcomed by an ingenious and clean pool – the Welcome Pool. It is composed of 350 small bonds with different shapes stacking one after one like welcoming the guests. The murmuring streams flows from upper ponds to lower ponds.

Flying Waterfall – walk several minutes from the Welcome Pool, you will get to the Flying Waterfall. Hundreds slices of waterfalls fly out from the forest, and drop down the slope, then form many ladder waterfalls because the slope has tens of layers. In the sunny days, the sunlight shine one the waters, and reflects different colors. 

Lianyan Lake – located at altitude of 3,251 meters, this lake covers more than 2,000 square meters, has water as clean as mirror. It is the only lake in Huanglong Valley.

Lotus Waterfall – a 167 meters long waterfall drops on a yellow travertine slope which is shaped like a lotus throne.

Rhododendron Forest – Huanglong Valley has a humid and cool climate which is good for the growing of Rhododendron. So travelers can see vast forests of Rhododendron which usually bloom from March to June. There are many species of Rhododendron in Huanglong Valley.

Jin Sha Pu Di – it is a travertine slope which is more than 1,300 meters long and 40~122 meters wide. According to records, the travertine landform is the largest, longest and most functional and colorful among its kind in the world. Watching from afar, one will find the slope is looking like the squama of the Yellow Dragon.

Bonsai Pool – located at 3,320 meters above sea level, the Bonsai Pool consists of 330 colorful small ponds, and covers more than 20,000 square meters. The ponds is formed by the rhizomes of trees, and connect with each other. Different colors of travertine in the bottom of the ponds create a beautiful natural wonder. The pool, together with the trees, flowers, rhizomes, forms a natural Chinese bonsai.

Zhengyan Pool – the pool is the second largest group of colorful ponds in Huanglong Valley, right after the Five-color Pool. It has 658 small ponds, covering more than 20,000 square meters. Zhengyan Pool is famous for its hundreds unique and beautiful shapes of ponds which reflect different color under sun light.

Rhododendron Pool – this pool is composed of more than 400 ponds. The best highlight here is the vast beautiful rhododendron surrounding the pool. The different colors of rhododendron’s flower or leaves reflect in the water, and create mottled scenery. 

Huanglong Middle Temple – this temple was originally built in Ming Dynasty. It is a temple of Bon. There is no ponds here, but you can enjoy great scenery of wild forest here. There used to be a large complex of buildings, but so far, only an Avalokitesvara Hall sits here.

Huanglong Back Temple – this temple has a history of more than 600 years. It is a Taoist temple. The Five-color Pool is situating at the back of the temple. This temple is a great background when travelers take the full views of the pools. 

Five-color Pool – located at the altitude of 3,576 meters, the pool is the highest group of outdoor colorful travertine ponds, also the largest-scale in the world. It has 693 small ponds, covers more than 21,000 square meters. The ponds here are well-arranged, very similar to the Yuanyuan Rice Terrace in Yunnan. Looked from afar, the ponds are like many jade slices.