Jiuzhaigou
Jiuzhaigou National Park consists of two glacial valleys that
join at the lower northern end of the park. The name means "Nine
Stockade Valley," referring to the number of Tibetan settlements
in the area, which are surrounded by wooden palisades. The
valleys were revealed to the outside world in 1966 during timber
surveys of the Min Shan by the insatiable Chinese Bureau of
Forestry and Industry. However, Jiuzhaigou escaped the fate of
other pristine forested regions when the government declared it a
natural reserve in 1978 and, recognizing the valley's tourist
potential, a national scenic spot in 1982.
Legend has it that the goddess Semo shattered her
looking glass, and the fragments formed the crystalline lakes and
pools of the valley. The upper reaches of Jiuzhaigou are
magnificent, a series of grand waterfalls separating limpid
lakes. Nuorilang Waterfall is a wide semicircle of braided
cascades stretching across the mouth of a tributary valley. The
24-m-high (80') falls stretch for 170 m (560') across the side
valley with tranquil lakes perched at their top. The upper lakes
are 20 m deep; Nuorilang Waterfall is produced by a high narrow
travertine divider.
Five Flowers Lake is a crystal pool of
amazing turquoise blue. The water is transparent and fallen trees
and logs lurk beneath the surface. Like giants toppled into the
clear pool, they have undergone a Shakespearean sea-change, and
are encrusted in death with travertine. The forested slopes of
the surrounding mountains rise precipitously above the lake,
framed by an azure sky; the reflection of Woluosemo Peak, which
is 4136 m (13,570'), shimmers on the limpid waters.
A wooden boardwalk crosses the yellow-orange
travertine plain above the crashing waters of Pearl Shoals Falls.
Despite their hard rocky surfaces, the Chinese call these
features "Golden Sands." Dwarf willows line the walkways, small
flowers springing from beneath their shade. Dark pines and firs
embrace the wide stream, and its waters sparkle in the bright sun
against the somber impenetrable green of the forest. The air is
cool and moist and moss covers the rocks and tree trunks. The
calcareous waters have produced strange shapes. One travertine
pillar stares with the face of an old man, with toothless open
mouth and hooked nose. Another, leonine, has a mane of foam.
