Jiuzhaigou九寨沟

Jiuzhaigou takes its name from the nine Tibetan villages scattered through the valley — Shuzheng, Zechawa, Heye and others — some still genuinely inhabited, not emptied out for show. In 1992, Jiuzhaigou and nearby Huanglong were jointly inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, among China's earliest natural sites to earn the designation. Both owe their look to calcium carbonate deposition: Jiuzhaigou's lakes shift from sapphire blue to peacock green depending on mineral content, algae and how light refracts through the water, while Huanglong stacks 693 terraced, rainbow-colored travertine pools at 3,576m, nicknamed the "Jade Pools of Heaven." A magnitude-7.0 earthquake on Aug 8, 2017 damaged parts of the park; years of ecological restoration followed, and it has since reopened, section by section, to the public. The bigger recent shift is transport: a new high-speed rail line finally gives Chengdu a direct train here, cutting what used to be a full day's drive down to about two hours — arguably the biggest change to how accessible this place is in a decade.

Nature

A single Y-shaped valley holding a hundred shades of water

• Shuzheng Valley (the trunk) forks into Rize Valley and Zechawa Valley at Nuorilang Waterfall
• Five Flower Lake: the most vividly colored lake in the park, with sunken tree trunks visible through the water — often called the "soul of Jiuzhaigou"
• Long Lake: the highest and largest lake, a deep moody blue; Five-Colour Pond sits nearby, shallow and vivid
• Huanglong's Multicolored Pond: 693 terraced travertine pools at 3,576m — the reward at the end of the trail

Culture

The villages inside the reserve are still someone's home

• Nine Tibetan villages, including Shuzheng and Heye, are scattered through the reserve — some still genuinely lived in
• Zhangzha town at the gate, and Songpan's old town further out, sit at a crossroads of Tibetan, Qiang, Hui and Han communities along the old Tea-Horse Road
• Huanglong Temple, inside the Huanglong reserve, blends Tibetan Buddhist and Taoist worship right alongside the pools
• Qiang embroidery and Tibetan silverwork can still be found from local artisans in Zhangzha and Songpan's old town

An honest update

After the earthquake, a new railway pulled it back within reach

• A magnitude-7.0 earthquake on Aug 8, 2017 damaged parts of the park; years of ecological restoration followed, reopening section by section
• The new Chengdu-Qinghai rail line gets you from Chengdu East to Huanglong-Jiuzhai Station in as little as 2 hours — Jiuzhaigou's first-ever direct rail link
• Jiuzhaigou Huanglong Airport sits at ~3,448m, among the higher-altitude civil airports in China, with direct flights mainly to Chengdu
• Both reserves are walking-friendly but gradually gain altitude — this is a nature site, not a technical trekking or climbing destination