Reflecting on Life
Jiuzhaigou National Park is a stunning (from what I've seen/read about in various books, the most stunning) park in northern Sichuan province. It's near the Gansu border.
Jiuzhaigou literally means "nine fortified villages." The nine are Tibetan villages, as the park is on the edge of the Tibetan plateau. Seven of the nine villages are still inhabited.
The park is over 180,000 acres in size and ranges in elevation from 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) to 4,500 meters (14,800 ft).
Jiuzhaigou is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1992) and a World Biosphere Reserve (1997).
Not having been to Yellowstone National Park in the US (but based on pictures), I think the topography is a bit similar.
There are a lot of things I love about this park. Though the entrance fee (~310 RMB, if I recall correctly) is steep, I love that the Chinese do a much, much better job with conservation in this park than in the others I've been to.
For starters, access is very controlled. There are very well-maintained paths and the only way between the various parts of the park -- by transportation -- are via buses they provide. You also can, of course, hike up and down the length of the valley.
The only downside is that -- Chinese being Chinese -- you still find people smoking in the parks and they aren't always good at being environmentally conscious/aware. So...you find areas where people don't throw trash in designated areas. However, compared to most other places I've been in China, they are MUCH better here than in other parks. Overall, I was very pleased, except when passing by inconsiderate smokers.
Getting to the park from Chengdu (nearest main city) is pretty easy. There are really two choices: a reasonably-priced 10 hour bus ride or an obscenely expensive (over $300) 45 minute flight, which is still followed by a ~2 hour ride in a private car which costs close to another $80-100.
On this trip, time was more important than money, so Doug & I went with the flight. It was a fun flight. Basically flying from roughly 2,000 ft in elevation (Chengdu, which is also at the end of a broad valley/plain) up to the Jiuzhaigou Valley...over 4,000 feet in elevation higher. The drive from the airport to the park was some of the most amazing scenery I'd seen anywhere in its own right. I hadn't expected that, though, and didn't have my gear out, nor did I feel like asking the driver to stop every three seconds just so we could take pictures.
We had two nights in the Jiuzhaigou area, but our hotel -- unfortunately -- was about 30-45 minutes past the park, so we only spent one day in the park...though it was a day well-spent, as far as I was concerned.
To imagine the layout of the park is pretty easy. You buy tickets at the main gate, walk in, and immediately take a bus about 15 km up to one of the 9 villages. From there, you walk along a boardwalk for about 1 km to another bus stop whence you can choose which of two forks to continue up.
Most tour guides and previous visitors give the following advice: go as early as possible, as soon as the park opens if you can. (We got there around 8:00 and the lines were already immense; even by Chinese standards, this park gets unbelievably crowded -- especially during holiday periods, which we intentionally missed by two weeks.) Take the bus up the valley to the top of the park -- either fork is fine -- and hike back down to the main junction. Take a bus up the other fork, then hike down to the main gate.
Having been there, I can only say that that's an incredibly ambitious plan. If you want to go slowly at all (as photographers are wont to do) and enjoy the scenery, I don't know how that's possible to do in one day. Doug & I arrived at 8:00, made our way up the right fork (Panda Lake is on that side), and hiked down to the main junction at Nuorilang Falls. That alone seemed to take until close to 4:00 in the afternoon.
At any rate, all of the pictures here are exclusively from the "right" fork down to Nuorilang Falls. Having ridden the bus from the main gate to the center of the park, I'll say it was a beautiful ride, but not nearly as jaw-dropping in terms of scenery as the upper valley.
This is definitely a park I'd love to return to, possibly in winter, though access is obviously much more restricted due to snow. Though it would be great to shoot here in winter. Next time, I'm sure I'll take the bus up there...
As usual, for a different perspective, feel free to view my friend Doug's pictures of Jiuzhaigou on his webpages:
Reflecting on Life
Jiuzhaigou National Park is a stunning (from what I've seen/read about in various books, the most stunning) park in northern Sichuan province. It's near the Gansu border.
Jiuzhaigou literally means "nine fortified villages." The nine are Tibetan villages, as the park is on the edge of the Tibetan plateau. Seven of the nine villages are still inhabited.
The park is over 180,000 acres in size and ranges in elevation from 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) to 4,500 meters (14,800 ft).
Jiuzhaigou is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1992) and a World Biosphere Reserve (1997).
Not having been to Yellowstone National Park in the US (but based on pictures), I think the topography is a bit similar.
There are a lot of things I love about this park. Though the entrance fee (~310 RMB, if I recall correctly) is steep, I love that the Chinese do a much, much better job with conservation in this park than in the others I've been to.
For starters, access is very controlled. There are very well-maintained paths and the only way between the various parts of the park -- by transportation -- are via buses they provide. You also can, of course, hike up and down the length of the valley.
The only downside is that -- Chinese being Chinese -- you still find people smoking in the parks and they aren't always good at being environmentally conscious/aware. So...you find areas where people don't throw trash in designated areas. However, compared to most other places I've been in China, they are MUCH better here than in other parks. Overall, I was very pleased, except when passing by inconsiderate smokers.
Getting to the park from Chengdu (nearest main city) is pretty easy. There are really two choices: a reasonably-priced 10 hour bus ride or an obscenely expensive (over $300) 45 minute flight, which is still followed by a ~2 hour ride in a private car which costs close to another $80-100.
On this trip, time was more important than money, so Doug & I went with the flight. It was a fun flight. Basically flying from roughly 2,000 ft in elevation (Chengdu, which is also at the end of a broad valley/plain) up to the Jiuzhaigou Valley...over 4,000 feet in elevation higher. The drive from the airport to the park was some of the most amazing scenery I'd seen anywhere in its own right. I hadn't expected that, though, and didn't have my gear out, nor did I feel like asking the driver to stop every three seconds just so we could take pictures.
We had two nights in the Jiuzhaigou area, but our hotel -- unfortunately -- was about 30-45 minutes past the park, so we only spent one day in the park...though it was a day well-spent, as far as I was concerned.
To imagine the layout of the park is pretty easy. You buy tickets at the main gate, walk in, and immediately take a bus about 15 km up to one of the 9 villages. From there, you walk along a boardwalk for about 1 km to another bus stop whence you can choose which of two forks to continue up.
Most tour guides and previous visitors give the following advice: go as early as possible, as soon as the park opens if you can. (We got there around 8:00 and the lines were already immense; even by Chinese standards, this park gets unbelievably crowded -- especially during holiday periods, which we intentionally missed by two weeks.) Take the bus up the valley to the top of the park -- either fork is fine -- and hike back down to the main junction. Take a bus up the other fork, then hike down to the main gate.
Having been there, I can only say that that's an incredibly ambitious plan. If you want to go slowly at all (as photographers are wont to do) and enjoy the scenery, I don't know how that's possible to do in one day. Doug & I arrived at 8:00, made our way up the right fork (Panda Lake is on that side), and hiked down to the main junction at Nuorilang Falls. That alone seemed to take until close to 4:00 in the afternoon.
At any rate, all of the pictures here are exclusively from the "right" fork down to Nuorilang Falls. Having ridden the bus from the main gate to the center of the park, I'll say it was a beautiful ride, but not nearly as jaw-dropping in terms of scenery as the upper valley.
This is definitely a park I'd love to return to, possibly in winter, though access is obviously much more restricted due to snow. Though it would be great to shoot here in winter. Next time, I'm sure I'll take the bus up there...
As usual, for a different perspective, feel free to view my friend Doug's pictures of Jiuzhaigou on his webpages: