Jiuzhaigou region

UNESCO-listed alpine valley in northern Sichuan with multi-coloured travertine pools and waterfalls. Reopened progressively after the 2017 earthquake. Combine with Huanglong.

Jiuzhaigou — Nine Village Valley — is a UNESCO World Heritage alpine valley in the Min Shan mountain range of northern Sichuan, at elevations from 2,000 to 4,000 metres on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau. The valley takes its name from nine Tibetan villages within it, several of which still have resident populations.

The visual quality that makes Jiuzhaigou singular is its water. Roughly 100 lakes, pools, waterfalls, and river sections flow over travertine — calcium carbonate deposited by the high-mineral groundwater. The travertine creates natural dams, terraced pools, and an underwater colouration that ranges from deep sapphire through turquoise and pale jade depending on depth, mineral content, and the angle of light. The colours are not retouched in photographs; they are that colour. The old-growth spruce and fir forest surrounding the water reflects in the pools in autumn, when the foliage turns red and yellow, making October the most visited month.

The valley was severely damaged by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in August 2017, which caused rockfalls, dried several of the pools, and buried sections of the travertine dams. Restoration work over several years has rebuilt damaged areas; most of the valley is now reopened, though some sections remain closed. Visitor numbers are managed through a quota system requiring advance booking.

The Y-shaped valley has three branches: Rize Valley, Zechawa Valley, and Shuzheng Valley. The main route is a loop connecting the highlights: the Five Flower Lake, the Pearl Shoal Waterfall, the Long Lake, and the Arrow Bamboo Lake. The park operates shuttle buses along the main road; hiking the full circuit in a single day is feasible but requires an early start.

Huanglong, 130 kilometres south via a mountain road, is a separate UNESCO World Heritage site: a single 3.6-kilometre valley at 3,500–3,700 metres containing 3,400 travertine pools in a different visual mode — shallow, terraced, gold-green against the surrounding calcareous rock. The two sites complement each other and are commonly visited together over two or three days.

Access to Jiuzhaigou is by flight to Jiuzhaigou Huanglong Airport (the highest-altitude commercial airport in Sichuan, at 3,450 metres, with frequent fog closures) or by high-speed rail to Jiuhuang Station followed by a road transfer.