Jiuzhaigou is a UNESCO World Heritage nature reserve in the northern Sichuan province in central China and is known as the habitat of the giant pandas (although it is extremely rare to see a panda in the park).

Jiuzhaigou’s main feature is its multitude of blue, green and turquoise lakes. Originating in glacial activity, Jiuzhaigou’s water has a high concentration of calcium carbonate, making it so clear that the bottom is often visible even in the deepest lakes.

The main scenic area stretches approximately 50 miles long in a Y shape and offers stunning views of lakes, waterfalls, and mountains. The name means “Valley of Nine Villages”, derived from the 9 ancient Tibetan villages that call it home (it wasn’t discovered by the Chinese government until 1972). Its highest point is 15,420 ft above sea level, with the main sightseeing areas between 6,500-10,170 ft.

I had taken a 16 hour night train from Xi’an to Chengdu with the intent of seeing pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding but past that had no idea what to do in or around the city.

After talking to people at the hostel and doing some research I finally decided on visiting Jiuzhaigou National Park. The pictures on Google are what sold me.

I mean come ON.

However I was currently in China during ‘National Week’ - a nationwide holiday where everyone traveled and prices of transportation and lodging were astronomical - so my options were limited.

I finally settled on the bus and while the bus ride to get there would take me 10 hours (plus another 10 hours to get back to Chengdu) it would only cost 145 CNY each way ($24 USD).

The journey to Jiuzhaigou was…unique. The drive was beautiful as we were going through some very mountainous areas with many twists and turns.

Chinese drivers are crazy. There’s really no other way to explain it. They don’t follow traffic rules, driving lanes are more like suggested guidelines, and passing/honking is excessive.

Our driver was no exception. He would gun it, beeping at the car/truck in front of him, swing to the left to pass, then slam on his break because there’s an oncoming car, swing back behind the car within a foot of their rear bumper, lay on the horn again, then rinse and repeat multiple times until he was able to pass.

All on mountain roads with some seriously hairpin turns and a very long way down.

Because it was going to take us 10 hours to get there our bus driver stopped about every 2 hours at a roadside shop. This is where you could stretch your legs, get a snack, or use the bathroom.

Now having been in China for almost 2 weeks at this point I was pretty used to squat toilets. But these were NOT squat toilets. They were squat troughs. There are no doors, not really any walls, and a trough about a foot deep that runs the length of the room. Everyone drops trou, squats, and does their business in a communal waste receptacle. No privacy, no shame, indescribable smell, lots of hand sanitizer after.

The first time I did alright. The second time when I went in the only open ‘stall’ was the first one closest to the door. That meant that as others entered and were waiting for a spot to open up they queued up right next to me. Very difficult to do your business when people are standing there right next to you and you’re squatted bare ass about 2 feet away from them. My body and brain rebelled the whole idea that time and hightailed it out of there.

We finally pulled up to the bus station in Jiuzhaigou around 5pm (we left around 730am) and in order to get off the bus I had to battle my way through hoards of people trying to get me to come stay at their hotel. I already had my reservations at a nearby hostel though so I quickly grabbed my bag and went inside to the bus station to buy my ticket home. Most bus stations in China are one way only so I had to wait until I got to Juizhaigou to buy my return ticket to Chengdu. Thankfully there were still plenty of tickets available.

I had to pass the entrance to Jiuzhaigou National Park in order to reach my hostel and I had read online that if possible you should buy your ticket the day before instead of waiting until the morning you plan on visiting. I whole heartedly agree because it only took me about 10 minutes to purchase my ticket whereas the next morning the lines were unbelievably long and there was a lot of pushing and yelling going on.

The ticket to the park is expensive (220 CNY or $36 USD) and most people buy a ticket for the shuttle buses (90 CNY or $15 USD) because the park is so expansive you really do need to utilize the buses if you want to see as much of the park as possible (especially if you only have one day).

I made my way to my hostel - Angelie Hotel - and checked into my room where I lived with some very nice girls from France and Germany for 2 days. The dorm rooms and bathrooms were extremely basic and literally located on the roof. They were expensive for what you got (65 CNY per night or $10.50 USD) but you had some lovely views.

The next morning I made it to the park for opening time at 7am and jumped on one of the first buses into the park.

I had planned to get a few dumplings on the walk to the park but while I did see them for sale on the street there was no one there to serve them or take my money. I continued on figuring there would be more near the entrance of the park and I’d just get them then.

Wrong.

I walked all the way to the park and after the little stretch of touristy area that my hostel was located in there was nothing. I was pretty devestated.

Especially since all I had with me was water and some Oreos. I had to then ration the packet of oreos for the entire 8 hour day. Needless to say I won’t be eating Oreos again for a while.

Having FINALLY done some research before visiting somewhere I read on another travel blogger’s website that it’s best to take the bus up the right side (more things to see) but to get off at Mirror Lake as most of the tourists start at the very top and make their way down. So by starting halfway up and walking down to the beginning of the park I could avoid most of them.

And boy did I avoid them.

Though it was the day before the Chinese National Day and there were thousands of tourists there that day, for the majority of the morning it seemed like I had the entire park to myself. It was glorious and peaceful.

MIRROR LAKE

Mirror Lake is aptly named for its ability to reflect the surrounding mountains and forests. The lake at an altitude of 7,907 ft and is in a sheltered section of the valley which is what helps to produce its reflective surface.

It was cloudy at 730am when I arrived there but the scenery was still beautiful and the mirror effect of the lake prominent.

From the lake I walked through the woods on a boardwalk that ran beside a clear river almost completely alone save for a few people I saw doing their morning stretching routines and tai chi.

NOURILANG FALLS

The Nuorilang Falls are located at an altitude of 7,760 ft and it’s waters drop 79 ft into a small ravine.

The mist felt great on my face even though there was a chill in the air first thing in the morning.

RHINOCEROS LAKE

Rhinoceros Lake is located at 7,696 ft and has a surface area of approximately 2,153,000 sq ft. It is the largest and deepest lake in the Shuzheng valley with an average depth of 39 ft. The lake derives its name from a legend that tells of a monk from Tibet riding a rhinoceros. When the monk came to this lake he was so entranced with the local scenery that he accidentally rode his rhinoceros directly into the lake.

Pretty awesome legend and an even more beautiful lake. Even better was again the fact that I had the lake almost entirely to myself.

TIGER LAKE

I was not so lucky in my solitude when I reached Tiger Lake. There were quite a few tourists who stopped at this lake and worked their way upwards so I was like a fish swimming upstream through throngs of people. It was a bit crazy and while the lake was beautiful it wasn’t as impressive as Rhinoceros Lake before it so I sped quickly through this area to get away from the masses.

Once I passed the lake however I was again on my own - just the way I liked it.

SLEEPING DRAGON AND SPARKLING LAKE

Next came Sleeping Dragon Lake and it’s adjoining cousin Sparking Lake.

Sleeping Dragon Lake contains a large shelf that extends across the floor of the lake. Locals say it looks like a sleeping dragon and that the head and tail seem to move as the wind ripples the surface of the lake.

Both had smaller waterfalls and the beautiful blue/green color I’d come to expect from all the water in these parts.

BONSAI SHOAL AND REED LAKE

While most of the prior hiking had been done on a boardwalk through the woods, both Bonsai Shoal and Reed Lake were much more out in the open and afforded me views of the surrounding mountains, valleys, and villages.

They were also the last main attractions on the path I was taking but the plan was to continue walking down close to the entrance of the park before catching a bus back up to the top to continue exploring.

I didn’t realize that it would entail about 1.5-2 more hours of walking on boardwalks through the woods but the peaceful path that followed the swiftly flowing river made for a lovely trip for me and my packet of Oreos.

SWAN LAKE

By the time I made it back to the road it was around 12:30pm so after hailing a bus back up to the top of the right side I made my way to Swan Lake. At this point there were a lot more tourists and being on the path with a lot of people was inevitable. But since I had such a wonderful morning I didn’t particularly mind.

Swan Lake is located at an elevation of 9,530 ft and is named for the large groups of migratory swans that make their way there each year though I did not see any.

ARROW BAMBOO LAKE/PANDA LAKE

Arrow Bamboo Lake is the first of the deep lakes and is set at an altitude of 8,793 ft. Apparently an unusual characteristic of this lake is that it never freezes even when the Panda Lake (only 328 ft lower in altitude) is completely frozen over.

Panda Lake has an average depth of 46 ft and as its name implies is in the heart of panda country as this 8,500 ft high lake is surrounded by bamboo forests and a mix of deciduous and coniferous woodland.

FIVE FLOWER LAKE

Five Flower Lake is located at 8,110 ft and is referred to as the soul of Jiuzhaigou. Its shallow turquoise waters afford you with outstanding displays of the bottom which often contains trees, bushes, and leaves.

PEARL SHOAL FALL

The last stop before making my way back to Mirror Lake was at the Pearl Shoal Falls.

The best part about viewing the falls is that you approach it from the top and walk down alongside it to the bottom.

After almost 8.5 hours of walking without stopping (save for the bus trip back up to the top) and nothing to eat but Oreos I was beat and I quickly found my way to the nearest bus station to catch a ride down the mountain to the entrance of the park.

That night I had a spicy meal of Mapo Tofu and the hole in the wall restaurant next to my hostel and sat at a table near the entrance which afforded me the spectacular view of the thunderstorm that had rolled in.

The next morning I woke up early and made my way back to the bus station for my second 10 hour drive back to Chengdu. This time I was smart and got some dumplings right outside my hostel.

China is completely distorting my prospective on expensive though because the dumplings cost 2 CNY each (damn tourist areas) and I was super annoyed to have to pay 6 CNY (about $1 USD) for 3 dumplings. Like I said…distorted prospective.

But they were a scrumptious breakfast indeed and tasted way better than Oreos.

The bus ride back was pretty brutal. While the driver wasn’t as reckless as our first one he went a lot slower which was torture. I was exhausted from the day before but with the excessiveness that the Chinese use their horns and the fact that I was sitting up front led to a sleepless journey.

But on a positive note the drive home was even more beautiful than the drive to Jiuzhaigou. The thunderstorm from the night before had coated the high altitude mountains with a fresh layer of snow.

If you’re ever in the Chengdu area try and make the time to journey to Jiuzhaigou. The drive there is long but as you can see from the pictures it’s so worth it. The fall is a beautiful time to go because of the contrasting colors of the leaves and the lakes (just try and avoid the national holiday week if you can). The winter entrance fee is cheaper and you’ll have the place mostly to yourself. Just be ready to spend a bit more regardless due to the touristy nature of the area.

---

Ever found yourself unfortunately stranded without much food? Been to a country with drivers whose sanity you continuously question?