A landscape of pristine alpine lakes, waterfalls and meadows sprinkled throughout a forested valley on the northern border of present-day Sichuan and home to nine traditional Tibetan villages, Jiuzhaigou is now a carefully managed tourist attraction that, during the high season, sees over ten thousand visitors a day. The Nature Reserve has largely preserved the beauty of Jiuzhaigou's multicolored lakes, dramatic waterfalls and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests while also making a priority of access and accommodation, with hotel rooms for around 20,000 visitors in the vicinity. The days of getting away from it all may be gone—it's no longer permissible to go backcountry camping, leaving regulated day visits the only legal option—but you can still get away from most of it, and there are few places on earth as stunningly beautiful as this.

A couple of wrenching hours on the mountain highway from Songpan, Jiuzhaigou is "doable" in a long day, though you'll miss a lot on a quick guided tour. If you can manage a weekend or more, it's nice—if not particularly cheap—to stay in one of the numerous hotels that have sprung up outside the park boundaries. Budget options are somewhat limited, as the humble "Valley of the Nine Villages" (the rough translation of "Jiuzhaigou") has become a high-end destination for China's burgeoning leisure class as well as growing numbers of foreign travelers. Be sure to book ahead in July and August when the high season peaks. Check out our Jiuzhaigou hotels and Jiuzhaigou transportation pages for details on where to stay how to get around. 
 

Park entrance fees include bus tickets, which are a must for day-trippers trying to squeeze as much as possible into a limited time. It's common practice to take a bus from the entrance gate to Long Lake and work your way down. You'll be going against heavy foot traffic if you choose to start at the bottom and work your way up. A bus change is required at Nuorilang, which involves a lengthy line wait—a good time to apply liberal amounts of sunscreen. Buses go towards Long Lake or the Primeval Forest leave frequently from Nuorilang. There are also restroom facilities and an overpriced restaurant at this half-way point.

Jiuzhaigou, the "Valley of the Nine Villages" (Sicadegu in Tibetan), earns its name from the Tibetan settlements that for centuries were the only significant human presence this once-remote region. The Tibetans long shared the valley with small groups of Qiang, one of the PRC's 56 officially recognized ethnic minorities, but little trace of the Qiang remains in Jiuzhaigou today. 

The valley remained in isolation until the early 1970s, when its rich forests began to attract loggers. Fortunately for today's visitors, logging stopped in 1979. In 1982, the government declared the area a national park, and by 1984 planning was underway to develop it as a tourist destination. In 1992, UNESCO named Jiuzhaigou a World Heritage Site and, in 1997, a World Biosphere Reserve. Today, the park is carefully protected, with all major tourist infrastructure and development being relegated to Nuorilang, Zhangzha, Jiuzhaigou Town and other settlements outside the protected zone.

Today's indigenous inhabitants, the Tibetans of the original "Nine Villages," are forbidden to pursue agriculture or animal husbandry within the park and, as a result, make their livings in the tourist trade. You can view the remaining settlements of Heye, Shuzheng, Zechawa, Rexi and Heijiao, but you should remember that these are long-standing living communities, not simply tourist attractions featuring "exotic" Tibetans, and you should respect them as such. However, the locals are often more than indulgant of tourist wishes; Shuzheng is a particularly popular place to don Tibetan clothing and get pictures taken.

Jiuzhaigou has proven incredibly appealing to tourists, drawing over 7,000 visitors a day on average, and well over 10,000 a day during the high season. Along with nearby Huanglong Park, it has become one of China's top natural attractions. 
 

Despite Jiuzhaigou's considerable altitude—ranging from 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) to about 4,300 meters (14,107 feet) above sea level—it enjoys a relatively temperate climate, with plenty of sunshine, a cool summer, and a moderate winter (as long as you stick to the lower reaches of the valley).

Fall—September into late November—is a wonderful time to visit, as forest leaves turn red and gold and light snows begin to dust the mountains. The cooler temperatures also discourage large crowds, though the October 1 National Holiday "Golden Week" is a popular time to visit for the foliage. July and August are peak season.

The town of Nuorilang, at 2,400 meters above sea level, enjoys a mean July temperature of 16.9 ˚C (62.4 ˚F); in January, the mean drops to a chilly but bearable -10 ˚C (14 ˚F). Precipitation varies with altitude and season. The cloud forest zone (2,700-3,500 meters above sea level) is, predictably, damp year round. 

Between May and October, 80% of the regions overall annual total average of 761 mm (30 inches) falls, thanks to the Southeast Asian monsoon season. Snow begins to fall in October and usually carries through to April.

As with all high-altitude destinations, layers of warm clothing and sun protection are keys, and remember to drink plenty of water.