In Jiuzhaigou Scenic Reserve: Middle To The Top Section
Jiuzhaigou is in the southern part of the Minshan Mountains at an elevation of 2,000-4,300m/6,500-14,000' and is one of the branch gullies at the source of the Jiulingjiang River in the Yangtze River system. This big "Y" shaped valley consists of Nuorilang with the two branches of Rize and Zechawa. There are over 114 lakes and 17 waterfalls...impossible to see everything. Jiuzhaigou Scenic Reserve was designated a UNESCO Man and Biosphere area in 1997. The midpoint of today's gully was called Nuorilang and Fangcao Lake (Primeval Forest) was an additional 18k/10 miles up.
Jumped on the next bus to top (a 20-minute ride) to admire the views from there. Most of the tourists in the park were also paying 30 Yuan to take photos dressed in Tibetan costumes....View image...they were so pretty that I was tempted to dress up in one myself...but we were running short of time and there was still much to see in Jiuzhaigou...
Neither of us were interested in the walk through the Primeval Forest and took the next bus down to walk around Arrow Bamboo Lake and Panda Lake both exquisite blue lakes spotted out of the bus window going up.
Back on the boardwalk again....past lakes so clear that you could see the fish...View image...
...arriving at Panda Lake. There really are Great Pandas around Panda Lake. They come down to the lakes for water, but the odds of seeing one is zilch.
I can only imagine what all these indescribably blue lakes and trees look like in the winter with the snow contrast against the green and blue. There are over 100km/66 miles of hiking trails in addition to the two gorges. We spent at least 5 hours in this section of the park only. Exhausted, called it quits after this one gully and headed to the bottom on another bus.
It is hard to believe one little area could have so many taxis. There was a separate parking lot just for taxis to line-up and you can't possibly imagine how many huge tour buses were parked, waiting for their groups to return. Wang Lee was there with our car and very pooped, it was back to the hotel.
Hindsight? I would only enter the park after 12:00 noon when the crowds thin out. Should have driven to the park, entered in the afternoon (the park is open from 8am-7pm), tour, stayed overnight in Jiuzhaigou, and left the next morning instead of spending two nights here.
