Huanglong

Landscape | Photography | World Heritage

Insider View

Huanglong is China’s only well-protected plateau wetland, known for its colored ponds, snow-capped mountains, canyons, and forests. The calcified pool water in the scenic area can change into different colors according to the surrounding scenery and sunlight’s angle. The large-scale, ingenious structure dominates Huanglong. And the colorful surface travertine landscape is famous at home and abroad for its rare karst landforms.
— Your China Specialists

Unique Experience

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Basic Information

Opening Hours: 08:00 – 17:00
Visiting Time: half day – one day
Chinese Name: 黄龙风景区
Address: Huanglong Scenic Area, Songpang County, Sichuan Province

Overview – Huanglong

Huanglong (lit.: ‘yellow dragon’) is a scenic and historic interest area in the northwest part of Sichuan, China. It is located in the southern part of the Minshan mountain range, 370 kilometers (230 mi) north-northwest of Chengdu.

This area is known for its colorful travertine pools formed by calcite deposits, especially in Huanglonggou (Yellow Dragon Gully), as well as diverse forest ecosystems, snow-capped peaks, waterfalls and hot springs. The place is also home to many endangered species including the giant panda and the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey.

The site was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992.

Situated in the north-west of Sichaun Province, the Huanglong valley is made up of snow-capped peaks and the easternmost of all the Chinese glaciers. In addition to its mountain landscape, diverse forest ecosystems can be found, as well as spectacular limestone formations, waterfalls and hot springs. The area also has a population of endangered animals, including the giant panda and the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey.
UNESCO

Source: Wikipedia & UNESCO

Attractions

Due to thousands of years of geological processes, the valley consists of numerous unique landscapes of geological landforms. Glacial revolution, terrane structure, stratum of carbonic acid rock, tufa water and climatic conditions such as Arctic-alpine sun light have created this world-famous travertine landscape. These accumulated travertine landscapes and pools are Huanglong’s main attraction.

The scenice area covers an area of 700 km2 at an altitude between 1700m and 5588m. Major scenic areas include:

Huanglong Valley (黄龙沟)
Danyun Gorge (Chinese: 丹云峽; lit.: ‘red cloud gorge’)
Muni Valley (牟尼沟)
Xuebaoding (雪宝顶; ‘snow treasure peak’) – 5,588 m (18,333 ft)
Xueshan Ridge (雪山梁; ‘snow mountain ridge’) – 4,007 m (13,146 ft), the highest point on the road from Jiuhuang Airport to Huanglong Valley.
Red Star Rock (红星岩)
Sigou (四沟; ‘fourth gully’)

Huanglong Valley
The total length of the travertine in the alley is 3.6 km and it is thought to look like a huge golden dragon wheeling through the snow-capped mountains of the valley. The main landscapes are travertine banks, colorful ponds and travertine waterfalls and caves. The main body of water starts from the ancient Buddhist/Benbo temple at the top of the valley and ends at the Guests Welcome Pond in the north with a length of 2.5 km and a width of 30–170m. The colours of the waters in the valley consist of yellows, greens, blues and browns.

Source: Wikipedia