Jiuzhaigou Detailed Travel Guide

Jiuzhaigou Valley is known as paradise on earth, with the purest mountains and water on earth. All the scenery here are gifts and creations of mysterious nature, bringing you infinite feelings and touching your soul. This is a bucket list of trips you must take. Here is a detailed guided tour of Jiuzhaigou Valley.

This time, we chose a semi-free trip. From booking flights, signing up for travel, to booking hotels, we do it all ourselves. There is no way at first, but gradually you will become familiar with this program, which will also be of great help to you in your future free travel. Actually I quite like this feeling. By constantly checking guides and information, I am looking forward to a place I have never been to before, and I am slowly changing from a stranger to a certain understanding of it.

Since I have plenty of time, I plan to fly to Chengdu first, sign up for a local Jiuzhaigou tour, stay in Chengdu for two days and then come back. Because I didn't buy the ticket in advance, the ticket was very expensive. It takes nearly 1,500 people to go back and forth. Signing up for a four-day tour of Jiuzhaigou Huanglong costs about 1,200 per person, including my own expenses. The whole process cost nearly 8,000 yuan, which was our largest entertainment expense after work.

Day 1: Flying from Guangzhou to Chengdu

Baiyun Airport is really big. In order to save money and time, we took an evening flight and it was almost 12 o'clock when we arrived in Chengdu. At that time we didn’t know there were red-eye flights. Fortunately, we caught the last Airport Express at Shuangliu Airport, got off the bus successfully near the hotel, dragged a suitcase, and walked on the empty streets of Chengdu late at night, feeling very excited. I didn't have any requirements for accommodation before, I just wanted convenience and economy, so I stayed here for seven days. Thanks to these seven days, it provided me with a warm place to stay during my first trip.

The next day: Arrive in Chengdu

Today’s task is mainly to find the travel agency we signed up for online, finalize the specific matters, and visit the famous Kuanzhai Alley in our spare time. At that time, taking a taxi was not as convenient as it is now, so I took the bus and walked the whole way. In fact, this method is very helpful for understanding a city. In fact, Kuanzhai Alley is very commercialized, with crowds of people buying trinkets and snacks. But we asked the locals and they still recommended going, saying that locals also go there to eat snacks. We also went to Chunxi Road, which is the same commercial street as Beijing Road in Guangzhou and Nanjing Road in Shanghai. I went to a big square in the evening, I forgot the name, and passed by a park, where I really felt the leisureliness of the locals.

As for eating, Sichuan’s spicy food really deserves its reputation. I woke up early in the morning to have breakfast and randomly found a noodle shop. I found out that they were all red noodles, and I really couldn’t bear the Cantonese stomach. So later we went directly to Sichuan University to look for food, only to find that our school was different from ours in that there were no meal tickets for sale and we could only swipe our campus cards. We shamelessly pretended to be students from other schools and found someone to swipe our cards for us. To be honest, the best thing I ever had was Yangzhou fried rice from a street restaurant. While wandering around, I found a fly restaurant with a lot of people. I want to try, but I don't have the courage. There are many snacks in Chengdu, but unfortunately I have no desire for delicious food. Once when I was eating maocai in an ancient town, I told the boss that I didn’t want it spicy. The boss was stunned for a moment, okay, I don’t want to add spicy food. Then, take out a plate of red maocai. The boss is innocent. I really didn’t add cayenne pepper for you. This is the bottom of our pot. -_-||, I was sweating all over.

Day 3: Chengdu-Jiuzhaigou

Early in the morning, go to the designated meeting point and go to Jiuzhaigou with the group. This is the highlight of this trip. A small group of twenty people, except for us and a couple, the rest were retired people. The tour guide is good, and of course self-funded items are also indispensable. The journey of more than 400 kilometers took a full day. "The road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the sky." The ancients do not deceive me. On one side is a cliff, on the other side is a cliff. Rolling stones can be seen from time to time on the road. Passing by some small attractions is not enough. I'm ashamed, I'm a bumpkin. When I first saw a real apple tree, it was growing in front of people's houses on the roadside. I even asked the tour guide what kind of tree it was, haha. We stayed at the foot of the mountain near Jiuzhaigou Valley for the night. The accommodation conditions were not good, even worse than the seven days. It's not a prosperous town, but it attracts thousands of tourists.

Day 4: Visiting Jiuzhaigou Valley

It was early in the morning again, because the tour guide said there were too many people in the peak season, and tourists had been stranded in the past. The crowd was crowded and bustling. There was a long queue, but the tour guide ignored it after entering and gathered at 5pm. The entire Jiuzhaigou Valley is Y-shaped. According to the online strategy, we first reach the highest point of Changhai and then go all the way down. There is a shuttle bus on the way, but the waiting time is too long.

Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area is a mountain lake, like a dazzling gem, blue and green, beautiful. It was the first time I saw such clear and pure water. There are groups of small fish underwater, and the calcified branches reflect the green trees on the shore. For an engineering student, this is an indescribable beauty.

The plank roads in the scenic area are very well done. Although there are many tourists, the photography effect is very good. If you find a good angle, it’s easy to take photos without the tourists in the background.

Take a photo, they are all postcards. My admiration cannot be expressed in words, because words cannot describe even a tenth of what I saw. I have to take more photos to keep it beautiful.

They say mid-September is not the most beautiful time. In mid-October, the trees on the mountains and shores turn yellow and red, reflected in the water. It was beautiful, colorful, like a fairy tale world.

There is really not enough time. We didn't reach a few points, so we had to hurry down the mountain to gather. If possible, it would take two days to slowly appreciate her beauty.

Day 5: Jiuzhai-Huanglong

Today’s itinerary was originally going to Huanglong, where the altitude is relatively high and the highest point can reach 3,500. Unfortunately, a light rain last night ruined today's trip and resulted in an unforgettable experience for me. In my opinion, a light rain, not even a spring rain, fell for a while and stopped at dawn. As a result, the inconspicuous stream at the foot of the mountain was turbulent, and the tour guide said that someone had already fallen into the water. The water is strong and people will be swept away. terrible. After walking for a while, the traffic jam started. When I asked, there was a mudslide ahead, the road was cut off, and Tibetan houses were flooded.

I thought it would be solved soon, but I didn’t expect that this stoppage lasted for eight hours, and Huanglong was naturally in trouble. In my opinion, it is a small stream. The mudslide blocked the bridge opening, directly washed away the bridge and the road, rushed to the opposite side, and flooded half a floor. Finally, the People's Liberation Army was sent to provide disaster relief. At that moment, I was really moved. Although we are not the ones affected by the disaster, our people's army is the most reliable at the most dangerous and critical time. During the eight hours that I stayed in place, I had to eat and go to the toilet by myself. The simple toilet in a Tibetan house on the roadside cost 2 yuan last time. Fortunately, it is better than being in the wilderness. There are snacks for sale when you get off the bus. Eggs, self-heating rice, and sausages are enough to satisfy your hunger. The most dangerous moment is when a big rock rolls down the mountain and hits the roof of the car. That moment really scared me to death. I immediately got off the car and stayed away from the foot of the mountain. In the evening, the road finally opened and I went straight back to Chengdu. It was dark all the way and the driver was driving very fast. We held hands tightly and didn't sleep a wink all the way. We were frightened. It wasn’t until I entered Chengdu that I felt alive, and I never dared to go there again.

Altitude sickness

I never thought I would have it. The old people in the car were all lively. As for me, I passed a scenic spot more than 3,000 meters on the road. When I got off the car, I felt dizzy when the wind blew, and I immediately got back to the car. Later I went to Jiuzhaigou, which was more than 2,000 meters away, and I kept having a headache. I was really helpless at the time.

Day 6: Chengdu Huanglongxi Ancient Town

This is a purely commercial ancient town. Beauty is beauty, it feels like a trace of man-made artifacts. Wuzhen is also an ancient town, but it is relatively primitive and has only been slightly repaired. But I still like the antique houses and streets, which are different from the customs and customs of Guangdong. Even if they are treated as a big park, it is enough for a day of fun, especially taking photos.

Some people say that going to an ancient town is to go to another place to see the old houses that others are tired of seeing. In fact, it depends on your mentality. You treat her like a trip or a relationship, which is completely different. Moreover, China has a vast territory and rich natural resources. Different villages in the same town have different customs. Tourism cannot just look at the superficial buildings. You have to understand the local culture, and the integration of architecture and culture can exude the greatest charm of the ancient town.

Day 7: Return to Chengdu

I went shopping and stayed near the airport at night. The hotel has a free shuttle bus and it feels like a nearby urban village. My only regret is not going to Chongqing to see pandas.