Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area

Huanglong National Scenic Reserve is known as the 'World Wonder' and 'Fairy Land on Earth', and it’s famous for outstanding travertine (calcium carbonate) formations, colorful lakes, snow clad mountains, valleys and virgin forest.

Type:Travertine (calcium carbonate) formations , lakes, snow mountains, valleys and virgin forest, Nature Reserve

Chinese Name: 黄龙国家自然保护区

Best Time to Visit: March-May

September-November

Recommended Visiting Time: One day

Open Hours: 8:00 - 17:00
Fee:

Admission Fee: CNY 200 in peak season (April 1 to November 15)
CNY 60 in low season (November 16 to the next March
Cable Car: CNY 80 (up), CNY 40 (down)

Address in English: Huanglong Scenic Area is located in the Minshan Mountain southern section, in northern Sichuan province within the territory of Songpan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, which belong to the transition zone between Sichuan basin and the eastern edge of Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Address in Chinese: 黄龙国家自然保护区位于中国四川省西北部松潘县境内，地处青藏高原东南缘的岷山山脉南段。

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Chinese Name:四川黄龙国家自然保护区

Huanglong National Scenic Reserve is known as the ‘World Wonder’ and ‘Fairy Land on Earth’, and it’s famous for outstanding travertine (calcium carbonate) formations, colorful lakes, snow clad mountains, valleys and virgin forest.

Features

Huanglong National Scenic Reserve is famed for its outstanding travertine (calcium carbonate) formations. With the virgin forest as its backdrop, the travertine scenery holds colorful ponds, beaches, lakes, springs, waterfalls, caves, etc.

Included in the UNESCO world heritage list
National key scenic spot.
Listed by the United Nations as the world’s man and biosphere reserve.

Location

The scenic area is located in Songpan County, in the northwest part of Sichuan Province and encompasses the Huanglong and Muni Valley. The major scenery is concentrated in the 3.6-kilometer (2.2 miles)

Transportation

Travel with YChina Tours (top recommended)

If you want to get rid of hustle of transportation and troublesome navigation, you can book a private tour package which covers visiting, dining and transfer from us. Our local tour guide and driver will escort you to Huanglong National Scenic Reserve with speed and convenience, and take care of all the details. You just need to focus on visiting.

Independent travel

For Independent travelers you can

Take airplane to Jiulong Airport, located in Chuanzhusi Town, 43 kilometers from Huanglong National Scenic Reserve. During the tourist season (from April to November)，there are buses from airport to Jiuzhaigou, 100RMB / people.
Take shuttle from the new South Gate station in Chengdu Huanglong.

Introduction

Huanglong Valley

It is located in the main peak Xuebao Peak of Minshan Mountain, close to the Fujiang River origin– Fuyuan bridge, which is a gentle slope clough with the length of 7.5 km, 1.5 kilometers wide. The valley is full of cream-like color rock, looking from distance it like a winding yellow dragon in the forest and that is the name of Huanglong comes from. In the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) people built the Huanglong Temple here to enshrine Huanglong. Huanglong Valley with the natural landscape of its “strange, unique, elegant, deep and remote” makes a name at home and abroad.

Yingbin Pool

Entering the Huanglong Scenic Area, you will see is a set of sophisticated, chic, bright and beautiful groups of water pools—Yingbin Pool. There are different sizes of pools, they have strange shapes, gorgeous color, strewn at random, surrounded by mountains.

Waterfall Glittering
After seeing Yingbin Pool, going up along a tortuous and winding road, you can see multi layered water break through the forest, flowing down rock step that about 10 meters high, and about 60 meters wide to form dozens of trapezoidal waterfalls, like pearl stream tumbled with silver flash; like suspended water curtain with rising mist; like a bead curtain flashing, attractive. Behind the waterfall there is a steep cliff in golden color, makes the whole waterfall spectacular. Touched by the sun’s rays, reflecting different color, looks like glittering rosy clouds from the sky, so-called “Waterfall Glittering”.

Washing Cave

Washing Cave is 1273 meters away from Fuyuan Bridge, and it is on the second step of Huanglong Valley. Plunging travertine flows down from the Golden Beach, suddenly collapsing and falling into a wall, which is 10 meters high, 40 meters wide travertine subside, and it is the world’s longest wall travertine subside. Running water comes from the dam over bunds, and becomes a resplendent and magnificent travertine waterfall.

Huanglong Temple

About 3.5 km away from the valley, visitors can have a rest in Huanglong Temple. In the valley there were originally three temples of front, middle and back before, now there only remains site of front temple; a total of five halls of middle temple, which covers an area of about 5100 square meters. The existing hall of Avalokitesvara Buddhisatva and the ten arhats statues in the hall covers an area of 2100 square meters and located in the Huanglong Valley at an altitude of 3558 meters, and the architecture of temple is basically well-preserved. It was said that the Huanglong helped Yu to prevent floods by water control, later generation set up a monument and built a temple here to worship. There is another saying that because of the Huanglong cultivated itself to become immortal here so it built the Huanglong Temple. Inside the temple there is Huanglong statue wearing a dark black priest frock.

Muni Valley Scenic Area

Muni Valley Scenic Area is located in the southwest of the Songpan County, is a new scenic spot of Huanglong Scenic Area. It combines the beauty of Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, but more origina, peace and quite, and no frozen ice mountain in winter. There is mountain, forest, cave, and the sea, big and small Haizi can be comparable to the Jiuzhaigou colorful pools, calcified pond waterfall can be comparable to the Jade Pool of Huanglong.

Mount Xuebaoding

Mount Xuebaoding (Snow Treasure Top) is the main peak of Minshan Mountain. At an altitude of 5588 meters, it is located in the east of 50 km of Songpan County.
It covers snow all year round, in the mountainside there is jagged and rugged rock, criss-cross ravines and gullies, and lakes scattered all over like stars in the sky or men on a chessboard. There are 108 larger Haizi, the Four Seas are particularly known by people: the southeast of the Circle Sea which is like a mirror; the southwest Square Sea, which is imposing like city wall; the northwest of Semicircle Sea which shapes like a crescent moon; and the northeast of Triangular Sea which just like pyramid reflected in the sea. Mount Xuebaoding foothill has spread throughout plants, scrub, and towering conifers.
The west, north and south side of Mount Xuebaoding is high cliff and precipice, makes the climber helpless; although east and west slope is relatively slow, it also make people flabbergasted and sighed. Sino-Japanese mountaineering team reached the top in 1999. After investigation, people think it is a “famous mountains treasure hill” with unlimited value in such aspects as scientific research and the development of physical culture and sports.

Danyun Gorge

Danyun Gorge becomes one of the “five greats” in Huanglong with its delicate beauty of gorge scenery. It has a lot of trees, shrubs, flowers and plants, where is a paradise for plant enthusiasts. Danyun Gorge Scenic Spot starts at Ziyusun Peaks (Jade Bamboo Shoot Peaks) and ends in Shanzi Cave (Fan Cave), stretches long and unbroken for 18.5 kilometers, and the difference of level should be 1300 meters, the peak to valley height difference of 1000 to 2000 meters. In winter there is snow-white, and in summer there is green mountain forest, especially in spring when the red azalea spreads all over the mountain, and in autumn maple leaves spread all the way across the canyon, which looks like the evening glow drop from the sky, Danyun Gorge hence comes the name. Mountain clouds, tree and wind, there is mist rising from the forest of Danyun Gorge almost every day, curl up around the mountains and plains. In the Danyun Gorge, there is densed forest. And Fujiang River which is originated from Mount Xuebaoding flows between the strange rock in the gorge and forest, looks like a white dragon nods its head and wags its tail.

Miniascape Pool

Miniascape Pool is composed of a set of hundred pools, there is pool inside the pool, and there is pool encircled pool. The rootstocks of trees in the embankment are changed according to the terrain; The bottom of pool represents yellow, white, brown, gray of a variety of colors, the pool surface is clean and clear, just like mirror; aside the pool there are woods and stones, flowers and plants. This beautiful landscape, just like fancy bonsai which is match made in heaven, make horticulturalists breathtaking.

Danyun Gorge

Accommodation

You can choose to accommodate at hotel at downtown, where has different level of hotel.

Please check out at our website.

Nearby Attractions

Jiuzhai Valley National Park (Jiuzhaigou): It is said that if there should be wonderlands on the earth, Jiuzhai Valley must be one of them. There is no equal elsewhere that has sceneries and fables of dreamlike eloquence, or natural purities like a fairyland as it.

Useful Travel Tips

Huanglong Scenic Area is 3000 meters above the sea level, and it is one of the highest scenic areas in China. When people come to visit Huanglong, people need to prepare to prevent altitude stress, and it is better to eat Rhodiola Rosea extract 7 days before you go to Huanglong or bring quick-acting oxygen-laden pill.