Huang Long

Huang Long is a scenic and historic interest area in the east edge of Tibetan plateau, and northwest of Sichuan province.

Location

It is located in the southern part of the Minshan mountain range, 150 kilometers north-northwest of the capital Chengdu with 3000 m elevation in Song-Pan County.

Brief

This Geological park has marvelous travertine rim-stone pools, flow-stones, and springs. It was denominated a special scenic spot of China in 1982 by Sichuan provincial government and as inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992.

Areas

It covers an area of about 700 square kilometers. It has two parts: Huang Long and Muni Gou. Huang Long includes Huang Long Valley, Dan-yun Gorge, Snow Treasure Peak, while Mu-ni Gou comprises two scenic spots: the Zha-ga Waterfall and the Er-dao Lake.

The scenic spot

In Huang Long scenic spot, cold water courses down the valley, cascading over abrupt cliffs and washing in sheets over wide expanses of botryoidal (lumpy) golden brown travertine. Algae and bacteria growing the pools color them green and blue. According to tradition, bathing in the “Xi-shen-Pu-bu” (Chinese pinyin, means “Body Washing Waterfall”) cured infertility. Carbon and oxygen isotopic data to show that the springs are not fed by shallow groundwater in the glacial material that fills the valley. Instead, the water originates in the surrounding mountains and percolates through fractured Pennsylvanian carbonates, where it reacts with the bedrock to become charged with calcium ions (Ca++), bicarbonate (HCO3-) and carbon dioxide (CO2), before emerging at springs in the valley floors. Travertine deposition occurs when agitation, pressure release, increased temperature, or organic activity lowers the CO2 content of the water. Decreasing the CO2 content reduces the solubility of the dissolved solids and causes travertine, which is principally calcite (CaCO3), to precipitate. A positive feedback loop forms at sites of agitation, such as waterfalls, and causes them to increase in height. It is likely that the location of these waterfalls has been controlled by the initial topography of the valley, perhaps forming over now-buried glacial moraines.

UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription: 1992

How to get to there

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By Shuttle bus

1. From Jiuzhai Airport: There is shuttle buses between Jiuzhai Airport – Huang long Scenic Area and Jiuzhaigou. The shuttle bus will stop at Huang long for about 4 hours that tourists can use to visit Huang Long Scenic Area;
Be advised: The shuttle bus is privately operated. There is no fixed departure time, it departs when the vehicle is fully occupied which sometimes it takes a long time. It also stops at night according to the traffic, and the shuttle may tempararily stops in low travel season

2. From Songpan County and Chuan-zhu-si Town: There are three buses leaving Songpan at 06:00 am, 07:00 am and 14:00 pm, (departure schedule could be vary indifferent month), passing through Huang Long; the rate is RMB 30 per person;

3. Jiuzhaigou to Huanglong: There are two departures at 06:30 am, and 07:00 am, with rate of RMB 38 per person

By Rental or chartered vehicle

1. From Jiuzhai Airport: By taxi, it costs about RMB 30 or 60 to Songpan
2. Chartered Vehicle from Jiuhuang airport: it usually charges RMB 400 – 500 per vhicle for one day rental, route is from Jiuhuang airport – Huanglong / Munigou – Jiuzhaigou valley entrance; From Jiuzhaigou valley return to airport costs another RMB 200
3. Chartered Vehicle from Chuan-zhu-si Town and Songpan: it usually costs RMB 200 – 300 to Huang long

Jiuzhai Airport

Add : 50 kilometers from Huang Long Scenic Area
Contact : +86 837 724-3770
IATA Code: JZH
Altitude: 3,448 meters