Welcome to Jiuzhai Valley
More than just spectacular scenery, Jiuzhai Valley National Park is home to nine local Tibetan villages, over 140 bird species as well as a number of endangered plant and animal species, including the Giant Panda, Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey, the Sichuan Takin and various orchids and rhododendrons.Jiuzhai Valley is locally known as Jiuzhaigou (Chinese for “Nine Village Valley”). It is a national park located in the Min Shan mountain range, Northern Sichuan in South Western China. It is best known for its fabled blue and green lakes, spectacular waterfalls, narrow conic karst land forms and its unique wildlife. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992; the park joined the Man and Biosphere Conservation Network in 1997 and has also received IUCN, Green Globe and ISO 14,001 accreditations.It is China’s premier national park and is located at elevations ranging between 1,990m (6,529 feet) to 4,764m (15,630 feet) above sea level. Located on the edge of the Tibetan Himalayan Plateau in Northern Sichuan Province it is easily accessible from Chengdu International Airport. Jiuzhai Valley provides spectacular scenery throughout the year making it one of China’s premier tourist destinations.
Park Information
General
Previously called Dzitsa Degu in Tibetan, Jiuzhai Valley or Jiuzhaigou National Park is located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, South Western China. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and it belongs to the Category 5 in the IUCN System of Protected Area Categorization. Jiuzhai Valley literally means Nine Village Valley and is named after the nine Tibetan villages scattered throughout the park. The villagers have lived in this region for many generations and they still hold onto many of their traditional ways of life. The human population of the park is just over 1,000 which comprises of over 110 families.The superb landscapes of Jiuzhai Valley are particularly interesting for their species of narrow conic karst land forms and spectacular waterfalls and lakes. There are over 140 bird species as well as a number of endangered plant and animal species, including the Giant Panda, the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey, the Sichuan Takin and various orchids and rhododendrons.Jiuzhai Valley is part of the Min Shan mountain range on the edge of the Tibetan Pletau and stretches over 720 sq km (72,000 hectares) with an extra buffer zone of 598 sq. km (60,000 hectares). The Min Shan Mountains are one of southwest China’s most important biodiversity typezones. The elevation of the park ranges from 1,990m (6,529 feet) at the entrance to 4,764m (15,630 feet) on the mountain peaks and the series of forest ecosystems are stratified by elevation.
Park Information
The legend of Jiuzhai Valley
The legend of Jiuzhai Valley
Long ago, legend has it that a boy named Dage was deeply in love with Woluo Semo, a beautiful goddess. One day, Dage gave her a gift, a token of his love - a mirror made out of wind. It turned out that because of interference of an unexpected evil, the goddess broke the mirror, and the pieces scattered on the human world and turned into 114 crystal-clear and gem-like lakes inlaid among mountain forests. Henceforth, Jiuzhai Valley “The Fairlyland on Earth” was created.
