Jiuzhaigou County, under the jurisdiction of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, is located on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and northeast of Aba Prefecture. It borders Wen County, Zhouqu County, and Diebu County of Gansu Province to the east and north, and it borders Zoige County, Pingwu County, and Songpan County of Sichuan Province to the west and south. The valleys in Jiuzhaigou County are vertical and horizontal. The terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It is dominated by mountains. There are also some flat land. The terrain changes in cascades, and the altitude difference is up to 2,000 meters. It belongs to the plateau climate.
Jiuzhaigou County was formerly known as Nanping County, and was renamed Jiuzhaigou County on June 19th, 1998 due to the popular World Natural and Cultural Heritage site of Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area. In addition to Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area, Jiuzhaigou County also has provincial-level Bejiao Giant Panda Nature Reserve, Baihe Golden Monkey Nature Reserve, Gonggangling Nature Reserve, Ganhaizi National Forest Park, Shenxianchi Scenic Area, Rhododendron Mountain, and Bejiao Baima Tibetan Customs Park, etc.
Jiuzhaigou is named after nine Tibetan villages. The residents of Jiuzhaigou usually speak Tibetan as the major language, but with the development of tourism for many years, most of the young and middle-aged people can communicate in Chinese and English.
The Tibetan that lives in Jiuzhaigou believe in Bon religion, also known as “Bonpo” in Tibetan. It was originally a primitive and local religion that prevailed in ancient Tibet in the region of west Tibet, the Guge Kingdom, commonly known as the black (ben) sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It worships natural gods such as heaven, earth, mountains, forests and waters. This sect religion had strong influence in the east Tibet of Kham, which currently known as Western Sichuan province, or the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
The minority residents in Jiuzhai and Huanglong are mainly Tibetans and Qiangs, so that most of the local festivals are traditional Tibetan and Qiang festivals, including Tibetan New Year Festival, Mazi Festival, Huanglong Temple Fair, Lantern Festival, Mountain Festival (also known as Zhuanshan Hui, the festival of worshiping mountain god), Qiang New Year Festival
Transportation
The nearest airport to Jiuzhaigou County is Sichuan Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport in Songpan County, which is about 88 kilometers to Jiuzhaigou and 43 kilometers to Huanglong.
Folk Culture
The folk art of Jiuzhaigou County has a long history and unique style. Painting, sculpture, architecture, and folk handicrafts from Jiuzhaigou County are all with high attainments. Its main characteristics are strong color contrast and full composition. The sculptures are mainly wood and clay. The residents’ houses are mostly two-story buildings with civil structures. The monasteries were built with style of flush?gable?roof and double?eave?roof, and the internal layout is complicated. Its carved patterns are even and symmetrical, with bright lines and vigorous rhythm.
The Best Travel Time
Jiuzhaigou is good to be visited in all year around
How to get Jiuzhaigou County
The quickest way to get to Jiuzhaigou county is to take the flight to Huanglong Jiuzhai airport, which has many departures from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu…etc;
Or you may choose to take public bu from Chengdu to Jiuzhai,
Or you can choose to depart this trip from other cities near Jiuzhaigou, such as Xian, Luoyang; you are welcome to write us an email to check the possible plan according to your travel idea
