Travel Guide to Huanglong Valley in Sichuan, China

The vast territory of China is home to some of the most breathtaking places on earth. One of these is the Huanglong Valley, otherwise known as the "Yellow Dragon". Located south of the Minshan Mountain Range in the Songpan County, this valley presents some of the most beautiful sceneries in China. Among them are a variety of ponds, lakes, caves, and waterfalls. Its full length of 3.6 km is just filled with beautiful landscapes that tourists from around the world often come to see.

If you’re planning a trip here, here are some tips that will make it more enjoyable.

How to Get Here

The popularity of Huanglong valley led to the development of several routes that provide easy access to the various sites. The best way to get to the valley is from Chengdu, the capital of Songpan County. You’ll find that several buses leave for the valley at regular schedules. You can also take a taxi but this will be a bit more expensive.

Once at the entrance of the valley, you can either walk up to the valley on the boardwalk or ride on the cable car, which is only available during peak seasons. Walking up to the valley will take around 2 hours.

What to Do

You’ll only be able to visit the valley on a day trip. There are no camping sites or lodging facilities to spend the night. If you want to see more of the valley, you’ll need to come back another day. It’s best to get there early so you can roam around and take plenty of pictures of the landscape and the temple on the mountain. You should also bring food and water along with you because these can be expensive at the shops on the mountain.

Places to Visit

Some of the best attractions of Huanglong Valley are the ponds, such as the Welcoming Guest Pond, Lianyan Pond, Bonsai Pond, Mirror Pond, Azalea Pond, and the Flamboyant Pond. With calm waters, the ponds are like mirrors that capture and reflect the beauty of the skies and some of the surrounding environment. The waters are crystal clear, but the floors and walls of the ponds have different colors. Usually you’ll see them in blue, green, yellow, or brown.

There are also a couple of waterfalls in the valley. The Marvelous Waterfall stands 14 meters high with a width of 68 meters. The Flying Waterfall stands a bit higher at 45 meters but its width is only 19 meters. The Washing Cave and the golden sand pavements are also good places to see.

You’ll also need to visit the Suyun Bridge, otherwise known as “Sleeping on the Clouds” Bridge, or the Immortal Greeting Bridge. Folklore has it that a monk once slept on the bridge and dreamt of celestial beings. It is said that the monk was taken by those beings into paradise. If you happen to see celestial beings on the bridge, its best to stay away for now, unless you want an early trip to paradise.

A visit to the valley will not be complete without taking a few pictures of the temples. The temples were built during the Ming Dynasty, but are still being used today. There are actually temples that were built there, but only two exist today. Some people say that the temples were built in honor of the Yellow Dragon that saved the valley from a flood.

Safety

Altitude sickness is one of the common problems that visitors experience. There are oxygen stations at the valley for those who feel they need extra oxygen. The best way to beat altitude sickness is to take things slow. Your body will need time to adjust to the high altitude and becoming sick is a sign that it wasn’t given enough time.

Walking to and from the valley will take a few hours and the paths can be slippery at some locations so you’ll need to exercise a bit of caution. Some of the areas look great for climbing, but doing so isn’t advisable. It can also be tempting to swim in the ponds as the water seems too inviting, but it wouldn’t be a good idea since it is cold at that altitude.

During the peak seasons, you’ll need to expect that there will be a lot of people there wanting to take photographs. They will all be struggling for the best positions, so take your time and try not to go with the flow. Some of platforms don’t have railings and they are very high, falling off is not something you want to do.

Photos of Huanglong Valley