SiChuan Series - JiuZhaiGou Valley

I was in shock when I knew of the terrible earthquake that hit Sichuan, China. So many lives diminished in such a short period. It had been reported that up until now, 14,866 people died in this disaster. And it is believed that this figure will go even higher as time passed. It is really hard for me to believe that such a sad thing happened in Sichuan, one of the most beautiful provinces in China. An even greater shock was that it had been reported that in the following month, or perhaps as long as one year, there will be more earthquakes in the region. Oh my Gosh. Hope my friends and their parents will be safe.
This entry is written “in memory” of Sichuan. The reason behind such a special entry is because Sichuan is full of such great scenery it was a great place to visit. I was there for three weeks in 2001 traveling through Chengdu, Chongqing, JiuZhaiGou valley, HuangLong, LeShan big Buddhist and ErMeiShan. I was very impressed by the sight and the people there.
For anyone who intends to travel to Sichuan, JiuZhaiGou valley is one of the places not to be missed. Jiuzhaigou valley is about 400 kilometers away from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. It is about 40 kilometers and it is named after the 9 villages. A literal translation of “JiuZhaiGou” would be nine village valley, “Jiu” means nine, “Zhai” means village and “ Gou” means valley in Chinese. The area of the whole valley is around 620 square kilometer, about the same as the area of Singapore. And 52% of the area is covered by forest. There are numerous unique trees, bamboo, animals and flowers within the valley, thus it has been known to be a living heaven for panda as well as several other rare animals. Jiuzhaigou is famous for its lakes, falls, snow mountain and forest. Due to the small population in the area, the place is well preserved, “100% natural”.
It is quite convenient to go to Jiuzhaigou from Chengdu. In order to save some money, try to get to Chengdu first, and then join a local travel agency. The price is pretty reasonable, for a 4 days trip, the average price range would be between 600-1000 RMB (please refer to the latest price in travel agency). Note however that entry tickets are not included in the price listed by the travel agency, and there is a discount for students if they bring along their student pass or matriculation card. For non-Chinese passport holders, there will be a discount as well. It takes about 10 – 12 hours to travel from Chengdu to JiuZhaiGou valley by bus, but now there is also the convenience of planes. The scenery leading to the valley is awesome; you will be able to catch glimpses of the snow mountain, grass fields, rivers and the forest.
I personally was very impressed by the rivers and the lakes there. The water is so clear that you could literally see through it. This resulted in an illusion that the water is not that deep, the depth, in fact is more than 2 meters, and some places in the lake can be as deep as tens of meters down. The water is rather cooling even in summer, but it is dangerous if someone fall into it. A uniqueness of the waters is the variety of color that it reflects, this is due to the stones at the bottom of the lake. Some are blue like sapphire, while some others are in green and others. One of the names given to the lake is Baoshi hai which literally means the lake of Gems. Another impressive sight is the snow mountain. Just imagining this, the reflection of a snow mountain on a deep clear water connected at the horizon and you can barely tell the mountain and its reflection apart. It is little wonder why some people called Jiuzhaigou valley the “heaven on earth”. It will be so worthy for you to go to Jiuzhaigou valley to experience that kind of feeling. I am pretty sure that you will have a wonderful experience and a great time there.